Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land
by nintendoscript15
Summary: After receiving a Japanese Terebikko game system as an early Christmas present, 7-year-old Jim Heeding enters the Mushroom Kingdom thanks to some special instructions from a family friend. After Jim meets his favorite video game characters, Mario and Luigi, Princess Peach sends an invitation to Dinosaur Land, but little do they know she's been kidnapped again.
1. 1A - An Early Christmas Gift

**HEADS-UP**

**To get an idea of what the story is about, watch **_**Mario to Yoshi no Bōken Land **_**on YouTube with English subtitles but disregard the interactivity since there are no fourth wall breaks in this loose adaptation. Other than that, please enjoy my first fanfiction: "Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land".**

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

**1A - An Early Christmas Gift**

It's November 23, 1990: the Black Friday of the year. 7-year old Jim Heeding is eating breakfast in the dining room with his parents, Randy and Helen, and his big brother Kent, who is four years older than Jim.

"This Thanksgiving break is going by way too fast," Jim said. Kent agreed almost immediately, saying that it felt like both had just gotten out of school the day before.

"At least you two got to have a week off. That's all that matters," Randy said. In response, Jim agreed that he and Kent deserved the break.

"By the way, I'm glad I got to eat all that turkey last night. You couldn't even eat two plates, Kent," Jim boasted.

"Well, I WAS close to finishing that second plate before I stopped to wait for dessert," Kent responded. "Dad, will you please pass the gravy?" Randy handed the sausage gravy to Kent, who poured some of the gravy on his biscuit.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was doing the dishes. Helen thought about going to the nearby Walmart and shopping for some Christmas gifts ahead of time.

"Are you really gonna go shopping today?" asked Kent. "It's gonna be packed when you get to Walmart."

"I'll try to make it quick just as long as I know what to buy. But I promise I won't spoil any surprises," Helen said. On the other side of the kitchen, Jim asked Randy if he can get the mail.

"After you clean your dishes, you may," replied Randy. It didn't take long for Jim to clean his plates. Shortly thereafter, Jim made his way to the mailbox and opened it to find a handful of Christmas cards.

"That's a lot of Christmas cards," Jim said to himself. Just as Jim was about to enter his house with the mail, he noticed a brown package out the corner of his right eye.

"What is this?" Jim approached the package and saw that it was shipped from Kyoto, Japan. He's confused as to why it was sent to the house. Jim took the cards inside and informed Randy about the package.

"What? I didn't order anything from that country," Randy said. However, after thinking it over for a few seconds, a lightbulb flashed in his head. "Wait! I know what it is."

"What is it?" Jim asked.

"I remember that Shinzō wanted to give you an early Christmas present," Randy replied.

"Oh boy! I can't wait!" Jim said in an excited tone of voice. He followed Randy as he took the package and set it on the kitchen counter. Randy then opened the box; a Styrofoam structure covered the contents inside.

"Is it a Nintendo game?" Jim asked.

"Let's find out," Randy said as Jim removes the Styrofoam. Inside the package was a Terebikko VHS game system, complete with the cords to plug into the media room's VCR, alongside an interactive anime video cassette called _スーパーマリオワールド マリオとヨッシーの冒険ランド _(_Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land_).

"Wow! This is so cool!" Jim exclaimed.

"I'm glad you love the gift, son," Randy said. Jim sifted through the package to see if there was more inside and found a letter sent by Shinzō Takada, the family's Japanese friend from Kyoto:

"Dear Jim, I hope you and your family are having a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm sure you ate a lot of turkey and pumpkin pie. Anyway, what I've sent to you is really special. It is a Terebikko video game system, which looks like an ordinary telephone, but it's designed for kids to interact with videos in which the characters ask you certain questions for you to answer using the colored buttons. One of the videos is called _Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land_, which came out alongside the brand-new video game _Super Mario World_ this Wednesday. It'll take two days for this package to get to your house, meaning that it should be there on November 23rd. I hope you enjoy your early Christmas present, Jim. Happy holidays, Shinzō."

"That's so nice," Randy said. "You should write him a thank-you letter."

"Okay." Jim immediately walked upstairs to Randy's office and wrote out the thank-you letter in about five minutes. Having sealed it in its envelope, Jim brought it to Randy.

"I'll put it in the mailbox in a little bit. Why don't you set up your Terebikko game?"

"Sure." Jim took the Terebikko and the _Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land_ video upstairs to the media room. Kent had just sat down on the couch, waiting to see Jim play the game for the first time.

"Did you see the letter Shinzō wrote?" Jim asked.

"No. May I read it?" Kent said.

"Yes." Jim took the letter out of his pants pocket and gave it to Kent. He read over the letter to himself, but as he finished, he noticed an extra message on the back that can barely be seen on the front.

"Jim, I think he wrote some more on the back," Kent said.

"What does it say?" Jim asked as Kent flipped over the letter.

"P.S. You might want to pack up as if you're going on a camping trip because that's part of the meaning behind interacting with the Terebikko video. For the second part, pause the video as soon as it starts up and pick up the Terebikko's phone before pushing the red button. I'll leave it to you to find out what happens."

"What does that mean?" Jim asked.

"I don't know, but you should get packing," Kent replied.

Jim rushed to his bedroom and got out a big backpack typically used on camping trips. He placed in the backpack two extra sets of clothes, his toothbrush & toothpaste, a breathmint tin, a deodorant stick, a flashlight, and a magnifying glass. He also attached a watch to his right wrist.

Jim then went downstairs to get several snacks; he found a big lunchbox in the pantry and put in three McIntosh apples, four water bottles, three packs of peanut butter crackers, two strawberry Nutrigrain bars, three bananas, four small cartons of apple juice, and two turkey sandwiches that he made before he got the rest of his snacks. Jim went back upstairs to the media room, where Kent had hooked up the Terebikko to the VCR.

"Do Mom and Dad know about this?" Jim asked.

"Yes, they do," Kent said. "I told them everything and that you might be gone for a few days."

"Are they worried?"

"Not exactly. Mom and Dad know you're gonna have fun, but they did say not to be gone for too long." Jim sat down on the floor in front of the TV and moved the Terebikko to his right.

"I'm ready when you are, Kent," said Jim. Kent proceeded to turn the TV on and insert the video into the VCR. After a delay of four seconds, the video started playing, first showing the Terebikko logo. The first scene showed a castle with mushroom-shaped roofs. Kent immediately paused the video.

"Well, here I go," Jim said after taking a deep breath.

"Good luck, Jim," Kent said as he shook Jim's hand. Jim picked up the Terebikko phone, placed it on his right ear and pushed the red 1 button. Almost immediately, Jim disappeared in a split-second white flash and the phone dropped to the floor. Kent was temporarily blinded by the flash.

"Wow. That was bright," Kent said to himself. "I hope Jim has a great time out there." Kent leaned over to the VCR to rewind the video back to its starting position.

* * *

It's 9:33 AM in the Mushroom Universe. Jim reappeared next to the castle and found himself sitting in front of one of the glass windows. He stood up after a few seconds, initially confused.

"What just happened...?" Jim wondered. He took a moment to scan his surroundings and noticed one of the mushroom-shaped roofs in the distance. He now knew he was in the Mushroom Universe. "Oh my gosh! It worked! Shinzō was right!"

Jim thought for a few seconds before coming up with a question. "Does that mean the Mario Brothers are here?" Jim began to walk around the castle, straddling alongside the walls in stealth. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi walked out of the castle, which happened to be their residence.

* * *

"Looks like a lovely day to go for a walk," Mario said.

"Yeah. Nothing like spending a half-hour out and about in the fields," Luigi replied.

* * *

At around the same time Mario and Luigi exited the castle, Jim hid behind a tree to the left-hand side of the front door and peered at them for a brief second. This was his chance to officially meet his favorite video game characters.

"Mario!" Jim called out after showing himself. Mario and Luigi stopped in their tracks and turn to see Jim next to the tree.

"Oh, hello, my friend! How are you today?" Mario asked as he knelt and waved to Jim. Jim walked up to Mario and Luigi, excited as can be.

"I'm so excited to see you! I'm one of your biggest fans!"

"That's great! I'm so happy to see you too!" Mario said as Jim gave him a hug.

"My name's Jim," Jim stated.

"That's a nice name," Mario said as he stood back up. Luigi then knelt in front of Jim and asked for a hug, which Jim did so.

"What brings you to our castle?" Luigi asked after standing back up.

"Well, it's a bit complicated," Jim began. "I got this video of you and Mario in the mail earlier today, and there was this letter that told me to pack up as if I was going on a trip. I started that video and pushed a red button on this telephone game console, and here I am with you guys."

"So, you're saying that you came from another world?" Mario asked.

"Yes. A totally different world than this one." Jim replied.

"I want to hear about it." "Me too," Mario and Luigi beamed respectively.


	2. 1B - An Invitation to Dinosaur Land

**1B - An Invitation to Dinosaur Land**

"Mario! Luigi! Mail delivery!" an unknown mailman called out from the street. Mario approached the mailman who had only one envelope to give to him.

"Thank you," Mario said as he walked back to Luigi and Jim.

"That's weird. Both of us got mail at the same time." "Yeah. What a coincidence," Jim and Luigi wondered respectively.

"Who's it from, bro?" Luigi asked. Mario slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a postcard. It had Princess Peach's signature on it.

"It's Princess Peach!" Mario exclaimed. In response, Jim and Luigi became thrilled about what Peach wrote down.

"Awesome!"

"That's fantastic! I had a hunch it was Princess Peach."

Mario flipped over the postcard to read the back, which bore a picture of Peach with a green dinosaur:

"Dear Mario and Luigi, I'm writing to you from Dinosaur Land, which is a beautiful paradise located within the Equatorial Sea northwest of the Mushroom Kingdom. There are lots of cute and friendly dinosaurs roaming the islands that make up the country, as well as exotic fruits that hardly anyone in the Mushroom Kingdom has heard of. You should come and visit Dinosaur Land too! I'll be waiting for you at the airport as soon as you land. Have a safe flight. Sincerely, Princess Peach. P.S. There is a picture of me and my new friend, Yoshi on the back of this postcard, which should give you an idea of what the dinosaurs look like."

"All right-y! Let's-a go to Dinosaur Land!" Mario exclaimed.

"What a great idea!" Luigi replied. He turned to Jim and asked, "You want to come with us, Jim?"

"I'd love to! I want to see what Dinosaur Land is like!" Jim said.

Without hesitation, Jim and the Mario Brothers set off for the Mushroom International Airport; they would be chauffeured by Lloyd Toadsworth, Princess Peach's steward. It's now 10:10 AM and Jim and the Mario Brothers have just arrived on the tarmac, walking to their ride to Dinosaur Land: a DC-7 aircraft piloted by Captain Timothy Earl and First Officer Michael Under (both are also from Jim's world).

"Good morning, Mario," said Captain Earl.

"Good morning, Captain. Did you get the call from Princess Peach?" asked Mario.

"I sure did. We've got the plane all set for you and Luigi." Captain Earl noticed Jim standing next to Luigi. "Who might you be, kid?"

"I'm Jim Heeding. Mario and Luigi suggested that I go with them to Dinosaur Land," Jim said.

"Well, Mr. Heeding, we have plenty of space inside for you," Captain Earl replied.

"Thanks, Captain."

"Mario, Luigi, we're gonna depart in about fifteen minutes, so you may now take your seats," Captain Earl informed the Mario Brothers after checking his watch.

"Okey-dokey," Mario acknowledged the captain.

Jim, Mario, and Luigi walked up the walkway into the fuselage, where two flight attendants welcomed them onboard.

"Where should we sit?" asked Jim.

"Anywhere you like, buddy," Mario said. Jim led the Mario Brothers to the fifth row of seats in front of the back exit door; Jim took the window seat while Mario and Luigi took the center and aisle seats respectively.

"You must like the window seat, don't you?" asked Mario.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool to see everything when you're that high up. Sorry, Luigi," Jim said, knowing that Luigi would've wanted to sit in the window seat.

* * *

As soon as Jim and the Mario Brothers fastened their seat belts, Captain Earl entered the plane and headed towards the cockpit where First Officer Under was already at his place. He took his seat and told the flight attendants through the intercom to close the back exit door.

"Good morning, folks. Welcome aboard our Douglas DC-7 aircraft," Captain Earl reported. "We're mere minutes away from beginning our nonstop flight to Dinosaur Land Regional Airport, which should take approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes. The time is now 10:15 AM, which means that our arrival time should be no earlier than 1:30 PM. I'll be back with more about today's flight as soon as we reach our cruising altitude. In the meantime, make sure your seat belts are securely fastened for takeoff. Thank you."

First Officer Under began starting up the four piston engines, and within minutes, the DC-7 taxied to the west end of one of four runways. Captain Earl then throttled the engines to full power, allowing the aircraft to take off on its way to Dinosaur Land. The aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 25,000 feet within 15 minutes, at which point Captain Earl turned on the intercom again.

"We have now reached our cruising altitude of 25,000 feet. At this time, you may unfasten your seat belts, but we recommend that in the case of turbulence, you should refasten them as soon as possible. In the next few minutes, our flight attendants will be serving complementary drinks and snacks. Lunch, however, will not be served until 12:30 PM. Until then, please relax and enjoy today's flight. Thank you."

* * *

"So, what do you want to talk about, Jim? We have about three hours, so feel free to tell me and Luigi more about yourself," Mario said.

"Well, I WAS gonna tell you about my world before your postcard came in," Jim replied.

"Oh right! I remember now. You told us it was different from ours."

"Exactly. So, first of all, where I'm from is in one of the fifty United States of America: Texas. I was born and raised in the city of Austin, which happens to be the state's capital. On top of that, I live with the nicest mom and dad I've ever seen," Jim explained.

"That's really nice. Me and Luigi's parents are pretty much just like yours, except my father has Italian descent," Mario said.

Out of confusion, Jim noted, "Wait a minute. Both of you are from America too? I thought you've lived here your whole life." Luigi then began telling the story of him and Mario's lives.

"For several years now. Me and Mario were born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and started a small-time plumbing business called _Mario Brothers Plumbing_."

Mario proceeded to chime in, "It wasn't until five years ago that we were fixing the bathtub drain of a nearby neighbor's house, and just when we thought we unclogged the drain, the water started flushing down so quickly that it startled Luigi and he dropped the plunger, which disappeared almost immediately."

"So, I jumped into the tub, trying to grab the plunger, but as soon as my feet went underwater, I was being sucked down the drain. I was so scared that I grabbed Mario's legs and accidentally pulled him under with me. Everything went black at that point."

"So, what happened then?" Jim asked.

"We woke up lying in the middle of a green field, where an unseen voice told us about how Princess Peach was kidnapped by the Koopa King known as Bowser, and that we were the only ones to save her," Mario explained.

"You probably know what happened afterwards if you played this game based off of that first adventure," Luigi said. It turned out that the Mario Brothers were fully aware that a video game company called Nintendo created a video game that told the true story of their first time saving Peach.

"Are you and Luigi still working at that plumbing business?" Jim asked.

"Not anymore," Mario replied. "After we saved Princess Peach, we found our way back to Brooklyn and closed down the business so that we can start our new lives in the Mushroom Kingdom."

At the same time Mario wrapped up that story, one of the flight attendants rolled a cart with drinks and snacks next to Luigi.

"Hello. May I get you something to drink?" asked the flight attendant.

"I'll just have a cup of coffee." "Me too. But make mine a decaf," Mario and Luigi said respectively.

After the Mario Brothers got their coffee drinks, Jim asked for some orange juice before the flight attendant made her way back to the rear end of the fuselage.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" asked Luigi.

"Only one brother, Kent," Jim replied. "He's about four years older than me. Both of us get along really well, but I can't remember the last time we argued. It may have been when I was three or something. Have you and Mario gotten into a fight before?"

"Oh yes. Plenty of times back then," said Luigi.

"One notable fight was, I think, two years ago. Luigi got this new book the day before and wanted to read it in peace. I didn't know about it at first and I was listening to classical music at the wrong time," Mario added in.

"Although I asked Mario nicely to turn down the music, he didn't hear me because he was preoccupied. After two more times, I rushed towards the record player, snatched the vinyl, and destroyed it into small pieces before throwing them out the window. I immediately regretted doing that, but I had no choice but to argue with Mario until it got to the point where both of us ran away from each other," Luigi said.

"How long was it until you made up?" asked Jim.

In response, Mario said, "It took about five hours, from what I remember. Why? I don't know. But what matters is we always make up in the end."

"And as Mario said later on, 'You can't live with your brother, you can't live without him,'" Luigi said.

Jim then proceeded to raise his cup of orange juice. "To the best siblings we grew up with."

"And to the brand-new friends we meet every now and then," Mario said. All three of them clinked their cups and sipped their drinks.


	3. 1C - Princess Peach has Been Kidnapped

**1C - Princess Peach has Been Kidnapped**

"Attention, passengers. We will be landing in a few minutes. Make sure your seats are in the full upright position, stow your tray tables, and fasten your seat belts. We recommend that you keep your seat belts fastened until we come to a complete stop at our parking stand. Thank you once again for flying with us and have a good afternoon," Captain Earl reported over the intercom.

It is now 1:20 PM and the DC-7 neared the Dinosaur Land Regional Airport's single runway; the plane arrived ten minutes early due to a tailwind. After touching down, the aircraft taxied to the middle of the tarmac, which is where passengers typically disembark before leaving the airport.

While Jim and the Mario Brothers unfastened their seat belts, Jim asked Mario, "Did you book a hotel room for us to stay in?"

"Well, the captain told me there aren't any hotels in Dinosaur Land, but I'm sure we'll find somewhere to sleep," Mario replied.

Jim picked up his backpack and they walked out of the plane towards the passenger pickup area on the eastern end of the airport.

Princess Peach was supposed to wait for them there and begin touring them around Dinosaur Land. However, she wasn't at the pickup area by the time the three stopped to wait.

"Hmm... Maybe Princess Peach is running late," Luigi wondered.

"Wasn't she supposed to wait for us after we landed?" Jim asked Mario.

"I think that's what she wrote..." Suddenly, an evil laugh sounded out of nowhere. Jim and the Mario Brothers turned to the sky slightly above them, which was where the laugh was apparently coming from. The sky darkened a small bit and distant thunder cracked all around.

"Wha- Is that Bowser?! Where is he?!" Mario cried.

"Long time no see, Mario!" Bowser's voice stated. "I've taken Princess Peach behind your back. If you want to force her out of my grasp, the only way is to come to my hideout! But I'll never tell you where it is because there's no way you'll be able to make it there alive! You may think this island is full of friendly dinosaurs, but they're all gone now! That's right! I made sure that every single one of my minions patrols every nook and cranny to stop you in your tracks! How about that, Mario?"

"What did you do to the dinosaurs?!" Mario demanded.

"Oh, they're fine. I didn't do anything to them," Bowser's voice lied. "I'm not bluffing, and you know it's true. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got to make sure Princess Peach doesn't try to escape. She's just as helpless as you are! Gwahahahahaha!" Everything went silent again after Bowser's laugh faded away and the sky returned to normal.

Mario and Luigi were angry that Bowser took Peach again, but they held it back for the sake of Jim being with them.

"Well, no wonder Princess Peach wasn't here in the first place!" Jim exclaimed. "How many times has it been? Four?" Jim asked Mario.

"It's only the second time in five years," Mario replied. Again, Jim was confused about the supposed fact.

"What? I thought she was kidnapped two other times."

"That 'second time' was actually made up by a fan who created a difficult version of that first game, and then we put on a play two years ago," Luigi explained.

"Wow. I didn't think those kidnappings were fake all along," Jim said.

"Well, now you know," Mario remarked. "But there are bigger things we need to worry about. If we do nothing, Princess Peach might become Bowser's slave!"

"You heard him, buddy!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Let's-a go!" Mario and Luigi cried as all three set off to save Princess Peach.

Within two hours, Jim and the Mario Brothers found themselves in the middle of Yoshi's Island at the southwest end of Dinosaur Land. It was a good thing that Jim brought the water bottles with him; otherwise, they would die of thirst over time. When Jim and the Mario Brothers stopped to take a breather, Luigi eyeballed a line of three Rotating Blocks to his right.

"What are you looking at, Luigi?" Jim asked.

"Something's telling me there is a Super Mushroom in one of those blocks. I'm not too sure, though." Luigi ran underneath the blocks and hit the middle Rotating Block, causing a white and green-spotted egg to emerge. Jim and the Mario Brothers immediately became perplexed.

"Eh? What on Earth is that egg?" Mario asked.

"I don't know. But we need to put that on the ground so whoever hatches out of it won't fall," Jim replied. "May I get the egg, please?"

"Sure." Mario lifted Jim onto the blocks before he received the egg from Jim. After setting it on the ground, Mario wondered, "I hope it doesn't take TOO long..."

After about one minute, the egg slowly cracked open and a green dinosaur jumped out, spreading the shell pieces all over the ground.

"Oh my goodness! You saved me! Thank you so much!" the dinosaur exclaimed. "My name's Yoshi. Who are you guys?"

"I'm Mario." "And I'm Luigi," Mario and Luigi introduced themselves.

"You mean you're the Mario Brothers that Princess Peach told me about?" Yoshi asked.

Luigi immediately recognized Yoshi. "Of course! And you must be the dinosaur with Princess Peach on the postcard we got this morning!"

"That was me, all right."

Suddenly, Luigi remembered that Jim hadn't met Yoshi yet. "Oh! I forgot to introduce you to our new friend, Jim. He wanted to come with us at the last second."

Jim walked up to Yoshi and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Yoshi."

"Are you from the Mushroom Kingdom like Mario and Luigi?" Yoshi asked.

"Not really. I'm from another world, but I'll explain later," Jim replied.

"Hey, Yoshi. I got a question," Mario said to Yoshi.

"What is it?"

"Do you, by any chance, know where Princess Peach is at? Bowser took her a while ago to this hideout, but he won't say where it is. For all I know, it should be on this island."

"Oh boy... I don't know where Bowser is at," Yoshi said in a disappointed tone of voice. "When I found out that my friends were taken, I tried to find his hideout too, but the farthest I ever went was Donut Plains, which is up north ahead. There were so many bad guys in front that I got scared and tried to run back home. Before I could even get across the bridge, I found myself sealed in that egg and I couldn't budge a muscle. Ever since that day, I thought all hope was lost until you came along. You must be brave enough to help me get to where Bowser is."

If it weren't for Jim and the Mario Brothers, Yoshi would not have been able to save Peach and his friends. So, Jim came up with an idea.

"How about this: the four of us should team up and find your friends before we go and save Princess Peach."

"Brilliant idea," Mario remarked.

"I agree." Luigi said. "But we can't just simply find them all and go. Obviously, Bowser's gonna be there so we might have to teach him a lesson first."

"You're probably right," Yoshi said. "That's the only way he'll have to release my friends and Princess Peach. Say, why don't you hop on my back and we'll get to Donut Plains before planning ahead?"

Without hesitation, Mario and Luigi hopped onto Yoshi's back. Jim decided not to because he believed that it'd be too much for Yoshi to carry.

"Yoshi, will you please not go too fast? I don't want to tire myself running alongside you," Jim requested.

"Sure thing. I'll walk if you want me to, but we might have to run if there's danger afoot," Yoshi said. "You all set?"

"Yes, we are," Mario replied.

"Okay. Let's get started!" And so, Yoshi, Jim, and the Mario Brothers began to head up north to Donut Plains, the next stop in their journey to save Princess Peach and Yoshi's friends.


	4. 2A - The Donut Plains

_**Chapter 2**_

**2A - The Donut Plains**

It had been about 40 minutes since Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers began their trek to Donut Plains. They were just approaching the bridge that led into that area.

"So, this is where you turned around back then?" asked Mario.

"Yup. I never got to see the rest of Donut Plains past the bridge. I don't see anybody here, so we should be okay," replied Yoshi.

"How sure are you?" asked Jim.

"I'm about 90% sure."

As they got closer to the bridge, a group of voices screamed out of nowhere, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Suddenly, four Chargin' Chucks, five Rexes, three Green Koopa Troopas, three Red Koopa Troopas, and a Koopa with a green shell and green hair blocked the entrance to Donut Plains.

"Hehehe! If it isn't Mario!" the Koopa boomed. "King Bowser sent me to stop you from crossing the bridge!"

Mario mistakenly recognized the Koopa as Hop Koopa, one of the enemy characters from the _Super Mario Bros. 3_ play back in 1988. "Wha- Hop? I thought you were just a character!"

"You fool! The name's Iggy! And yes, I'm totally real!" Iggy retorted. "Now turn back immediately or we'll run you over!"

"Not if WE run you over first!" Yoshi shouted. "Let's get them!"

Mario and Luigi jumped off Yoshi's back before Yoshi ran toward the Koopa Troopas.

"Luigi, take care of the football guys!" Mario cried. "Jim, back up Yoshi!"

"I'm on it!" Jim replied.

Luigi ran toward the Chargin' Chucks and Spin Jumped on one of them to knock it out. He then threw the Chargin' Chuck into the river below. Just as Luigi was about to attack the second Chargin' Chuck, the third one came rushing toward Luigi and rammed him in the side. In a chain reaction, Luigi was thrown against the second Chargin' Chuck, sending it into the river too. He slowly got up, clutching his right rib in agonizing pain.

Meanwhile, Yoshi ate one of the Red Koopa Troopas and spat it out as three fireballs at the three green ones, burning them into ashes. Jim stomped on the second Red Koopa Troopa and tossed the shell at all five Rexes, knocking them into the river. Unbeknownst to Jim, as he was throwing the shell, the third Chargin' Chuck stormed toward Jim. At the last second, he noticed the incoming Chargin' Chuck and cowered to the side. Nothing happened, though. Jim uncovered his eyes and saw that Mario ran into the Chargin' Chuck, forcing it into the river as well.

"Mario! You saved my life! Thanks!" Jim exclaimed.

"No problem, buddy!" Mario replied.

The one remaining Red Koopa Troopa charged Mario, who stomped on it and threw the shell into Yoshi's mouth. Yoshi spat the fireballs at the last Chargin' Chuck, reducing it to ashes. Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers regrouped shortly thereafter.

"That was too easy, wasn't it?" Yoshi boasted.

"Not for me," Luigi complained. "My right rib's killing me."

"How bad is it?" Jim asked.

"Not too bad. I'll be fine."

"You're next, Iggy!" Mario declared.

"Oh, no you don't!" Iggy snapped. "I've got more in store for you!"

Right on cue, three Monty Moles emerged from the ground while three Yellow Paratroopas flew in front of the group. Mario facepalmed himself.

"Oh, mamma mia... Not again..."

"This could go on forever!" Luigi said.

"Well, let's do what we did earlier!" Jim replied as he and Luigi began rushing towards the Monty Moles.

But Yoshi held his arm out in front of them, stopping them from going any further. "Stay back! I got it this time!"

Almost immediately, Yoshi jumped up and ate one of the Yellow Paratroopas and, with the shell in his mouth, he caused a small earthquake after landing. This knocked the Monty Moles into the river. He then spat the shell at the other two Yellow Paratroopas, clipping their wings and sending them into the river too. Iggy took a moment to look down the cliff to see most of his minions swimming away from the area and the ashes of those who got burned by the fireballs Yoshi spat out. He felt defeated at this point.

"You... You've defeated all of my minions..." Iggy muttered.

"Yeah! And now it's four against one! What are you gonna do, huh?" Yoshi taunted.

"Ugh! That's it! I'm out of here!" Iggy said as he ran off into the distance. "We'll meet again, Mario!"

As soon as Iggy disappeared completely, a white egg with yellow spots rolled in the opposite direction of Iggy toward the group. It slowly cracked open, revealing Yellow Yoshi. His right forearm was broken, and his left cheek bore a blackish-green bruise.

"Yellow Yoshi! I can't believe it's you!" Yoshi exclaimed with excitement.

"Yeah. Thanks for saving me, Yoshi. And thank you too." Yellow Yoshi told everyone.

"You look pretty hurt. Did Bowser beat you up?" Jim questioned, having noticed Yellow Yoshi's injuries.

"Luckily, Bowser didn't hurt me himself. Those bad guys did a great deal of damage to me. One of them threw a football at my arm and broke it in half, and some red turtle headbutted my cheek so hard," Yellow Yoshi explained.

Mario immediately felt sorry for Yellow Yoshi's well-being. "Oh no... I'm so sorry..."

"I wish you could come with us, Yellow Yoshi," Luigi said.

"You know, I'd love to tag along, but I'd slow you down so much that you wouldn't get very far," Yellow Yoshi replied.

"Is there any way you can help us?" asked Jim.

"The only thing I can tell you is that there's a haunted house on the north end of Donut Plains. One of the Yoshis told me that the house is so big and so dark that anyone could get lost trying to navigate their way through. He also said that there are two long fences attached to either side, preventing anyone from going around the house."

"Does this mean we have to go through the haunted house?" Yoshi asked.

"If it weren't for the fences, I would say that you wouldn't have to, but you guys don't have a choice. It's either go through or go back," Yellow Yoshi stated. Mario and Luigi then hopped onto Yoshi's back again.

"We appreciate your help," Mario said.

"My pleasure. I wish you guys the best of luck," Yellow Yoshi said as the group made their way across the bridge and set foot into Donut Plains.

"Be careful out there, guys! See you later!" Yellow Yoshi called out.

"Bye, Yellow Yoshi!" the group replied.

Over the next three hours, Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers traversed the vastness of Donut Plains, gazing at the flora and fauna along the way. In addition, Yoshi and Jim talked with each other about their personal businesses. Eventually, the group came upon the haunted house, which had the two fences attached from either side of the house to two adjacent trees.

The time is now 7:30 PM, thirty-five minutes after sunset. It was so dark outside that it made the forested area really creepy; especially when there's a haunted house within. As the group got closer to the front door, Luigi and Yoshi became slightly terrified.

"Yellow Yoshi was right... It IS very big..." Luigi murmured.

"I don't even want to go in..." Yoshi muttered.

"I'll be honest: I don't want to go in either, but climbing those fences won't do any good," Jim said. Suddenly, an unseen ghost cackled creepily. Luigi and Yoshi clung to each other in fear while Jim and Mario flinched a bit.

"Hahahahaha... Welcome to the Donut Ghooooost House..." the ghost drawled. "Nooooo one person has managed to escape this place... Come on inside... But just try to find your way out... I doubt yooooou will make it..."

"Luigi! Yoshi! Get ahold of yourselves! This is no time to panic," Mario ordered. Although Yoshi calmed down slightly, Luigi couldn't get himself to calm down, shaking uncontrollably.

"Mario's right," Jim agreed. "This place may be eerie, but we can't turn back now."

"Okay..." Yoshi sighed. "I guess I'll have to face my fear..."

"Let's-a go, guys," Mario said as he and Yoshi opened the ghost house's front door and walked inside. Because Luigi was shaking so badly, he was basically frozen in place, unable to move.

Jim proceeded to take Luigi's hand. "Come on, Luigi. We'll go in together."

"I d-don't like th-this..." Luigi stuttered as both walked inside too. The front door then slammed behind them, locking itself in the process. Jim was right; there was no going back now.


	5. 2B - This is So Haunting

**2B - This is So Haunting**

For five minutes, Mario, Yoshi, Jim, and Luigi walked through the dark passages and halls of the Donut Ghost House. Mario and Yoshi walked ahead while Luigi and Jim fell behind; this was justified by the fact that Luigi was barely able to walk due to being extremely terrified.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll take out my flashlight," Jim said.

"I th-think I can s-see without it... It's n-not t-too dark..." Luigi replied in a shaky voice. A minute later, Luigi and Jim heard several cackles from behind and turned to only see four insidious-looking blocks floating in midair.

"What was that?" asked Jim.

"I c-could've sworn th-there were g-ghosts behind us..." Luigi stammered.

"I don't see any. Unless those blocks ARE ghosts," Jim said.

Jim and Luigi turned back around to continue onwards, but they heard another cackle and looked back quickly again to see the blocks still frozen in place.

"This better be my imagination..." Luigi murmured.

"I don't know, Luigi..." Jim replied.

Just as Luigi and Jim turned around again, Luigi remembered to turn quickly before the blocks formulated into Boos. As soon as Jim turned at the same time, both screamed at the top of their lungs, having the living daylights scared out of them, and began running toward Mario and Yoshi with the Boos following right behind.

* * *

Having heard Luigi and Jim scream, Mario turned around and asked, "What's going on back there?"

Suddenly, a huge swarm of Boos began to surround Mario and Yoshi a few seconds before Jim and Luigi regrouped with them. Yoshi became terrified again, and Mario froze in fear for the first time. All four were clinging to each other and unable to move a muscle.

"I kn-knew th-this was g-gonna happen..." Luigi stuttered.

"Me too..." Jim said. He turned his head to see Mario shaking with terror, something he had never seen before. "Mario?! I thought you said you weren't afraid of going inside!"

"I g-g-guess I w-was w-wrong..." Mario answered in a shaky voice.

"W-what are we g-gonna do...?!" Yoshi whimpered.

"I don't know! We can't just stand here all night!" Jim exclaimed. He unzips his backpack to get out his flashlight. "That's it. I'm turning this on."

Jim turned on the flashlight, but due to a shaky hand, he accidentally pointed it at an angle where some of the Boos were hovering. They dissolved due to the light beam, leaving Jim confused as to why that happened.

"Did- Did I just scare off those ghosts?" Jim wondered.

"I-it looks like it..." Mario stuttered. After a few seconds, Mario came up with an idea, having calmed down a bit. "Wait a minute. Shine your flashlight at all the ghosts. I think I know why they disappeared."

Jim waved his flashlight all over the place until all the Boos were completely gone. All but Luigi were relieved that everything was over.

"I think that's all of them," Jim stated.

"Brilliant!" "Way to go, Jim!" Mario and Yoshi praised Jim, who high-fived them.

Jim turned to Luigi and said, "Luigi, it's over. Are you-" Suddenly, Luigi dropped to his knees and vomited all over the floor, disgusting Jim in the process.

"Oh geez! You must have been WAY too scared." Mario noticed Luigi vomiting and put his hand on Luigi's back.

"It happens sometimes. Luigi gets so scared to the point where he throws up."

"That's a bit extreme, isn't it?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. I never felt that way after being terrified," Mario replied.

Out of nowhere, Yoshi called out from far away, "Hey guys! I found a key!" Mario and Jim walked up to Yoshi holding a yellow-orange key.

"Where did you find that?" Jim asked.

"It was on the floor. I think one of the ghosts dropped it earlier," Yoshi stated.

"Fantastic! See if you can find a door somewhere around here," Mario responded.

Jim handed Yoshi his flashlight. "You'll need this too."

"Thanks, Jim. I'll be right back," said Yoshi as he walked off to find a way out of the ghost house.

Jim turned back to Luigi, who clutched his stomach as he slowly stood up. "You okay, Luigi?" Jim asked.

"No... My stomach hurts so bad..." Luigi moaned. Jim approached Luigi and gave him one of his peanut butter cracker packs and a water bottle.

"Here. You need to eat something," Jim insisted.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yoshi continued to scout the rest of the ghost house for a hidden exit.

"I know there's got to be an exit somehow," Yoshi said to himself. After about three minutes, Yoshi reached the far end of the ghost house and looked to his left and right; on his right were four keyholes in a horizontal line. "That's weird..."

He called to the group again, "Guys! Come over here!"

Jim and the Mario Brothers approached Yoshi, who pointed out the keyholes. "I didn't find a door, but I DID find these keyholes."

"I've never seen anything like this." "Me neither," Mario and Jim said in a perplexed tone of voice.

"Why would they be built into the wall?" Jim asked.

"I don't know. Maybe the ghosts wanted to trick us into thinking all four would work. I'm not buying it, though," Yoshi replied.

"So, there's only one that'll get us out of here?" Mario asked.

"Obviously, yes. I'll try each of them until this so-called door opens up," Yoshi said. Out of randomness, he tried the third keyhole from the left. Immediately after he turned the key, it was sucked into the keyhole, shocking Yoshi.

"Oh, please tell me we're not stuck in here..." Just before Jim and the Mario Brothers could react, a giant key-shaped hole opened in front of them, revealing the other side of the forest. Everyone except Luigi became excited.

"It worked!" "All right!" Mario and Jim cheered.

"Ha! I actually did it on the first try!" Yoshi laughed in relief as he handed the flashlight back to Jim. The group then walked out of the key-shaped exit, continuing eastward. Luigi was still sulking about the ghost house ordeal.

"I'm never going into a haunted house again..." Luigi mumbled.

Another 50 minutes passed before Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers came across a watering hole with fruit bushes and a tall palm tree; it's now 8:30 PM.

"I'm getting a bit tired," Jim said softly.

"Me too," Mario yawned. "I think we should stop here for tonight."

"Yeah. All this scary stuff has worn me out," Yoshi agreed.

Jim took out his toothbrush and toothpaste and brushed his teeth at the watering hole. Mario and Yoshi laid down near one of the fruit bushes.

"What a way to end the first day," Jim said to himself.. "Good night, Mario. Good night, Yoshi."

"Good night, Jim," Mario and Yoshi replied as they began to doze off.

Jim walked back towards the palm tree and laid down in front of it. Luigi sat down next to Jim.

"Jim?" Luigi asked.

"Yes?" Jim responded. Luigi tried to think of what to say but couldn't come up with anything.

"Never mind."

"No. What is it?"

"Nothing. I'll tell you tomorrow morning," Luigi said.

"Okay. I guess I'll wait too. Good night, Luigi," Jim sighed.

"Good night, Jim," Luigi whispered; he laid down on the opposite side of the palm tree and both Jim and Luigi dozed off.


	6. 2C - I've Been in Your Shoes Before

**2C - I've Been in Your Shoes Before**

About ten and a half hours have passed since Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers ended their first day of an ambitious journey to save Princess Peach and Yoshi's friends; it's 7 sharp, five minutes after sunrise. Jim awakened slowly, having heard his wristwatch alarm go off.

After turning the alarm off, Jim walked behind one of the fruit bushes and changed into his first set of extra clothes after putting on his deodorant. He then brushed his teeth near the watering hole and ate one of his breathmints to keep his breath fresh. As he walked back to the palm tree, he saw Luigi anxiously sitting against the trunk. Both Mario and Yoshi were still asleep.

"Good morning, Luigi," said Jim.

"Good morning, Jim," Luigi replied.

"Did you sleep well?"

"No. I kept having these nightmares about the haunted house and I didn't get much sleep."

Jim sat down next to Luigi. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't like the haunted house. Is that your biggest fear?"

"Not just that, but all ghosts in general," Luigi said.

"Well, do you know what my biggest fear was when I was younger?" Jim asked.

"What was it?"

"It was ghosts and haunted houses." Luigi immediately became amazed, realizing that he and Jim had the same fear, even though it was a long time ago for Jim.

"Are you serious?" Luigi asked.

"Absolutely," Jim replied. "I was once in your shoes during those first Halloweens I celebrated."

"My first ever haunted house experience was when I was three years old. I had just started preschool in September. Anyway, what the teachers at school did was they darkened the halls, asked older students to wear scary costumes, and put creepy objects such as jack-o-lanterns, gravestones, and animated decorations all over the place," Jim explained.

"That Halloween, I went with my parents and Kent, expecting it to be funny and all. Little did I know was that I was gonna be scared to death. Each time we passed by a skeleton, witch, or zombie; it would jump out at us. Also, the students that dressed up as those characters threatened to kill us even though they were just joking."

"But because I didn't know better, I took it seriously and I was crying so hard that I had to cover my eyes the whole time. I couldn't stop crying for the rest of the night until I woke up the next morning," Jim went on. "I even had nightmares about the haunted house for, like, one week."

"So, what happened after that first time?" asked Luigi.

"For the next two Halloweens, I was frightened easily. But when I turned six, I realized that it was all just a show and there was nothing to worry about besides being startled frequently," Jim said.

"Was that why you weren't so scared last night?" Luigi questioned.

"Well, technically, it WAS scarier than those haunted houses back at home, but I knew I wasn't gonna get hurt. I assumed the ghosts were invisible," Jim replied. "How long have you had this big fear?"

"It's as far back as I can remember," Luigi explained. "I don't know when exactly, but I remember going camping with Mario and a few other friends. Just when we were about to go to sleep in our tent, one of my friends put a white sheet over himself and frightened both of us. Mario thought it was funny afterwards, but like you, I was crying nonstop. Ever since then, my fear of ghosts took me over."

"For that long?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. I don't know if I'll ever get over it," Luigi said.

"One day, you will."

"How?"

"Well, it takes time for it to go away. Just like it took me three years," Jim said. "The way I handled it was what Kent told me to do, 'Think happy thoughts all the time. Don't let the scary stuff get to you. They're just doing it to prepare kids for when they go trick-or-treating because there WILL be people dressed as ghosts and witches that night. Even if they scare you too much, that doesn't mean it's the end of the world for you.' It was hard at first, but it worked perfectly."

"So, should I not focus on those ghosts next time?" Luigi asked.

"Exactly. The more you look away and ignore them, the better off you'll be," Jim replied. "Just pretend that nothing is after you if, at any point, you come across a dark and empty house like the one we went through last night."

"Thanks a lot, buddy. I never knew a kid like you would help me out," Luigi thanked Jim.

"You're welcome," Jim said as he unzipped his backpack and took out his lunchbox. He split one of his turkey sandwiches in half, gave one half to Luigi, and handed him one of the apple juice cartons.

"Here's your breakfast," Jim assured Luigi. "I didn't bring any eggs or bacon, but any type of food is fuel."

"Thanks again," Luigi replied. "It's so nice how you share everything with me."

After both ate their breakfast within five minutes, Jim silently approached Mario, kneeled in front of him, and tapped his shoulder.

"Mario," Jim whispered. "Mario, wake up."

Mario slowly woke up and yawned, "What time is it...?"

Jim looked at his wristwatch. "It's 7:11. We've been asleep for about ten and a half hours."

"Mamma mia. That's pretty long," Mario remarked. Having overheard Mario and Jim talking to each other, Yoshi woke up as well.

"Good morning, Yoshi," Jim said.

"Good morning, Jim," Yoshi replied.

"You feeling better?"

"Even better than last night."

Yoshi stood up to eat some of the fruits on the bush he slept next to. However, before he started eating, Yoshi asked Jim, "You want to try one of these fruits?"

"Sure. Why not?" Jim responded. He walked up to the bush, picked one of the fruits, and took a bite.

"Not bad," Jim said. "It's like a mix between an orange and a lemon. It's a bit sour, but still good."

"See? I told you they were delicious," Yoshi said.

"What else do you have, Jim?" Mario asked.

"I have a couple bananas. You'll need it because we're gonna be walking a lot," Jim said as he walked to his lunchbox and gave Mario one of his bananas.

"How much longer until we find my friends?" Yoshi asked.

"I'm not sure, Yoshi," Jim replied. "But like I said earlier, all this walking should take up the entire day. At least we're getting closer and closer by the minute."


	7. 3A - The Vanilla Dome

_**Chapter 3**_

**3A - The Vanilla Dome**

It's now 8:25 AM. Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers resumed their journey across Dinosaur Land, taking over an hour to reach their next stop: a huge mountain known as Vanilla Dome. At the bottom of the mountain was a blue door with a key-shaped hole in the middle. As the group approached the mountain base, they gaze up at the giant walls.

"Now that's a tall mountain," Jim commented.

"Yeah. There's no way we're climbing up the walls unless we have rock climbing gear," Mario replied.

Luigi turned to see the blue door and asks, "How about we go inside?"

"If we find a key to that door, then we can," Jim responded.

Luigi walked up to the door and stretched his arm through the keyhole. He was amazed that it was just a regular hole.

"I don't think we need a key. It's just that I can't push this open," Luigi said as he tried pushing the door open to no avail.

Luigi stuck his head through the hole and found a wooden plank blocking the door. He pushed it out of the way before exiting the hole and shoved the door open.

"Heh! Someone must have been lazy in building that door," Luigi chuckled.

"I guess Bowser's minions WERE stupid after all," Yoshi said.

Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers walked through the doorway into Vanilla Dome. The first area they entered was a small rocky room with a narrow tunnel in front and two torches on the left and right walls.

Jim peered inside the tunnel and asked, "Are all of you able to fit in here?"

"I don't know," Yoshi said. "My tail might get stuck if I crawl under." He kneeled in front of the tunnel.

"How about I give you a boost?" Mario asked. He pushed Yoshi through the entrance, hoping he would move freely.

After a few seconds, Yoshi started crawling ahead, proving Mario right. Luigi went in next, followed by Jim and Mario. As soon as he entered the tunnel, Jim gave his flashlight to Luigi, who relayed it to Yoshi. This was so that he'll alert the others if anything dangerous was blocking their way. Luckily, nothing popped out in front while everyone crawled their way into the giant, hollow area within the mountain.

After Yoshi exited the tunnel before Jim and the Mario Brothers did the same, he took a few seconds to gaze at his surroundings. It wasn't as dark as the Donut Ghost House was because there were so many shiny crystals sticking out of the walls that glimmered all over the place, providing enough lighting to hike the steep trails to the top.

"This is so pretty," Yoshi remarked.

While looking up at the tall ceiling, Jim added in, "It's just like a hotel lobby, but bigger."

"I have a feeling one of your friends is at the top, Yoshi," Mario said.

"I hope you're right, Mario. We better start climbing," replied Yoshi.

Along the long and steep mountain trails that looped around the walls, the group came across a bunch of enemies ranging from Buzzy Beetles to Swoopers and Spike Tops. There were also some pools in which they had to swim underwater to bypass any rocky barriers that blocked the trail.

By the time Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers were a few loops before the top, the temperature started to get warmer and warmer.

"Is it just me, or am I starting to sweat?" Mario asked as he took off his cap and wiped his forehead.

"Yeah. I'm feeling hot too," Jim commented. While Jim fanned his face to briefly cool himself down, Luigi saw an orange-red light reflecting off the wall in front.

"Is that what I think it is?" he wondered.

It wasn't very long before the group found themselves where the light and intense heat were coming from: a lava river separating them from the exit on the other side.

"I knew it," Luigi said. "I knew we were gonna come across some lava."

"Where is it coming from?" Jim asked.

"I don't know," Mario replied. "But I DO know we can't get across without any blocks. Look right there." He pointed at a row of white dotted-line outlines covering the entire gap.

"Is there a switch that turns those outlines into blocks?" asked Luigi.

"There should be," Jim said as he slowly approached the cliff.

"Be careful, Jim," Mario warned him. "Don't fall off the edge."

At the cliff edge, Jim peered down to see if the switch was on a small ledge near the lava. He had to squint his eyes because the lava was so bright.

Eventually, he found a rock platform attached to the cliff face and the left-side wall. There were three different colored switches on the platform: red, green, and yellow.

"Why are there three switches? I thought there was only one," Jim said to himself. He turned back to Yoshi and the Mario Brothers. "Guys, check this out."

Just as Yoshi, Mario, and Luigi came to the cliff edge to spot the switches, a Magikoopa suddenly appeared on the other side with his companion Lemmy Koopa standing on a yellow ball with orange stars.

"Hahaha!" the Magikoopa laughed. "You think I'd let you get across easily? Absolutely not!"

"That's right!" Lemmy chimed in. "My wizard's magic made those extra switches! Just try and see which one works!" Mario turned to Lemmy and mistook him for another one of the Koopaling characters from the _Super Mario Bros. 3_ play: Hip Koopa.

"You can't fool us, Hip! We're smarter than you!" Mario boasted.

"Why does everyone get my name wrong?!" Lemmy chided. "First, my friends on that pirate ship and now you, Mario!"

While Lemmy was distracted in scolding Mario, Luigi secretly jumped onto the platform to deduce which switch will turn the white outlines into actual blocks. Out of randomness, he pounded the green switch with two fists. Half a second later, green blocks immediately filled in the outlines.

"Oh, I didn't know you were a pirate," Mario quipped as he glanced at the blocks in front. "Why don't I sink your evil plans just like that green switch?"

"No... You did not just do that..." the Magikoopa murmured as Mario began to run across the gap to where Lemmy is standing.

As soon as Mario reached the other side, the Magikoopa disappeared into thin air and Lemmy got out his magic wand to shoot at Mario. It was hard for Lemmy to land a magic blast on Mario because he kept dodging every single blast. Again, Luigi found a small opening and crossed the gap to attack Lemmy from behind.

Mario saw Luigi out of the corner of his eye and shouted to Lemmy, "Look! A giant Coin!"

Lemmy turned around quickly to see nothing but the rocky wall. At the same time, Luigi kicked the ball from under Lemmy's feet.

"Hey! That's my ball!" Lemmy yelled as Mario caught the ball.

"How about a little Keep Away?" Mario teased. He threw the ball over Lemmy's head into Luigi's hands. Luigi then kicked the ball again; this time, it hit Lemmy in the face, causing him to fall to the bottom of the dome.

"That was fun!" Mario exclaimed as he high-fived Luigi.

"Yeah! Good game, bro!" Luigi replied.

Now that Lemmy was dealt with and no one else stood in the way, Jim and Yoshi crossed the lava river and rejoined the Mario Brothers.

"Oh no..." Yoshi sighed out of disappointment. "I thought one of my friends was up here, but I guess not."

"Don't worry, Yoshi," Jim assured Yoshi. "We're not gonna give up until we find them. I promise."

Without further ado, Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers exited Vanilla Dome and came across the Butter and Cheese Bridges: two wooden log bridges leading to their next destination known as Cookie Mountain.


	8. 3B - Failure to Stop Mario

**3B - Failure to Stop Mario**

It's now 1:30 PM; more than five hours since Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers left Donut Plains towards Vanilla Dome. Iggy and Lemmy Koopa have just arrived at Bowser's secret hideout located in an undisclosed place. Bowser was expecting them to report back with the good news of Mario being defeated, but he didn't know that he was gonna be told the opposite.

"Welcome back, Iggy and Lemmy," Bowser greeted the two Koopalings. "Tell me how it went with Mario."

For about five seconds, Iggy and Lemmy stood in silence, knowing that they would be punished if they told the truth; but at the same time, they remembered not to lie.

"What's with the silent treatment, guys? Are you afraid to spit it out?"

"Well... King Bowser... I..." Iggy hesitated.

"Come on. I know the truth hurts, but I'll be more than glad to hear your honesty," Bowser said.

Lemmy whispered to Iggy, "Just tell him, Iggy. He's gonna read our minds if we stay quiet any longer."

Iggy turned back to Bowser. "Okay. Here's the truth, King Bowser: Mario took both of us down."

"Wait. Say that again," Bowser demanded, initially not believing that Iggy and Lemmy failed him.

"We tried to stop Mario, but he stopped us," Lemmy admitted.

"You have to be kidding me!" Bowser belted. "You promised me that Mario would have no chance against you! Not to mention that you were gonna do this on your own without my help!"

"We did, King-" Iggy started.

"I know you promised, Iggy! But what I don't know is why you two broke your promises!" Bowser interrupted.

"We didn't break them, King Bowser! We knew what to do, but Mario skated past us easily!" Lemmy exclaimed.

"Yeah, he skated past you!" Bowser said with sarcasm. "Did you force him to trip and fall?"

"We tried, but-" Iggy protested.

"Don't say you tried, Iggy! What was your fault?" Bowser boomed.

"Look, I didn't attack Mario directly," Iggy explained. "I made some of your minions do the work for me. Mario and his friends threw them into the river and ganged up on me before I ran back here."

"There we go," Bowser said. "You were too lazy to do your work, you made slaves out of my Koopa Troopas and Monty Moles, and you ran away a scared coward!" He turned to Lemmy and asked, "What about you, Lemmy?"

"Same as Iggy. I hired a Magikoopa to help me out. We cut into a magma tube, formed a lava river to make Mario turn back, and I had the Magikoopa create three switches; one of which made a block bridge above the river." Lemmy explained.

"Didn't you also say you were going to make a sturdy door and lock Mario out of the dome?" Bowser asked.

"I did. I put a giant keyhole in the door and hid the key in the fields."

"A giant keyhole?" Bowser questioned. "You cut into the door so that Mario can reach through and open it from the inside?"

"No! It wasn't like that!" Lemmy protested.

"Yes, it was!" Bowser chided. "Here we go again with the laziness! Just like when you said you and Iggy were gonna build the SS _Koopa_ by yourselves! Who did all the construction? Your pirate friends!"

"But we said we would change!" Iggy whined.

"You said you would change, but you reverted to your old habits!" Bowser retorted. "You know what? I'm not letting you go to Wendy's Castle and back her up if Mario goes there! You're staying with me until I hear that he's been banished!"

The castle that Bowser mentioned belonged to another Koopaling, Wendy O. Koopa, and was located on Chocolate Plateau at the south end of Dinosaur Land.

"That's not fair!" Lemmy yelled.

"It is to me." Bowser said. "Now you go with Iggy to the break room. I'll be there in a while to teach you an important lesson."

"Yes, King Bowser," Iggy and Lemmy responded as they began to walk to the break room in the back of the hideout.

"He better not tear my hair out," Iggy muttered.

"He might, Iggy," Lemmy acknowledged. "Maybe that's part of the lesson."

"You're so lucky to have survived that fall, Lemmy," Iggy assured Lemmy. "Good job on landing on your shell."

"I knew I had to do that. Didn't want to be crawling with two broken legs," Lemmy agreed as both sat at the center table.

"Where's your wand?" Iggy asked.

"I dropped it after Luigi hit me in the face with my ball."

"Figured."

...

Meanwhile, Bowser made his way to Princess Peach, who was trapped in a cage 15 feet above the ground.

"Don't build up your hopes, Princess Peach," Bowser told her. "Mario will never find us this time."

"He will too!" Peach argued. "And he won't be alone when he drops in!"

"Oh, really?" Bowser asked sarcastically. "Who's he bringing with him?"

"You know Luigi! He's been there for me just as much as Mario has! And guess who else?" Peach boasted.

"I'd love to hear it."

"My dinosaur friend, Yoshi!"

"You mean the dinosaur I sealed in an egg just like the other ones?"

"He WAS sealed, but maybe Mario freed him by now," Peach said.

"You may have your opinion, Princess Peach, but I doubt he even knows where that Yoshi and his friends are," Bowser responded.

"And you won't tell me either?" Peach asked.

"No way."

"You're gonna have to eventually let me down. I need to stretch my legs," Peach demanded.

"Why let you down?" Bowser asked. "There's plenty of space in that cage for you to walk around in."

"And I've used up all that space," Peach stated. "Will you please do me that favor?"

"No means no, Princess Peach," Bowser replied. "You know, I'd love to chat more, but I need to check on Mario and make sure my minions don't let him go any further. You be good, okay?"

On that note, Bowser walked away from the cage out of view. He would either sit and wait for more news from the Koopalings, or use a crystal ball set up not too far from Peach's cage and watch Mario's progress from his hideout.

"Just wait and see, Bowser," Peach said to herself. "Mario will come for me whether you like it or not."


	9. 3C - Dangerous Bridges and Water Tanks

**3C - Dangerous Bridges and Water Tanks**

Rewinding back to 9:59 AM; Yoshi, Jim, and the Mario Brothers have just arrived at the Butter and Cheese Bridges, which connect to the distant Cookie Mountain. The group had to choose one of the two paths: either risk jumping over several gaps on the Butter Bridge, or continuously dodge the sharp machinery moving up and down the Cheese Bridge.

"They're both dangerous," Jim cautioned everyone.

"You're right, buddy," Luigi replied. "But it's one or the other. If anything bad happens, would you rather get shredded, or fall a long way down?"

"I'd go for the second option," Yoshi said. "You wouldn't want to see those saws hurtling towards us."

"That's what I was thinking, Yoshi," Jim agreed.

He looked to his left and saw a ladder next to Vanilla Dome's exit door. "Let's take the top bridge, guys."

"Lead the way, Jim," Mario declared. It took around seven minutes for the group to climb the ladder to the start of the Butter Bridge.

After reaching the top, Luigi edged close to the first gap and peered down at the Cheese Bridge. "Even if the gaps are too long to jump, at least we'll land on something solid," he remarked.

"But what about the saws?" Jim asked.

"Then we'll do our best to avoid them," Mario reassured Jim. "Ready?"

"Yes, I am," Jim replied. Knowing he couldn't jump across the gaps without any help, he sat himself on Yoshi's back while Mario and Luigi leaped across with ease.

"Here's how I do a long jump," Yoshi explained to Jim. He jogged for a couple seconds and jumped before rapidly moving his arms and legs to float across the gap. "That's called a Flutter Jump. Basically, I have to move my arms and legs constantly to prevent myself from falling."

"That's neat," Jim remarked.

"Yeah. It's a thing that runs in all the Yoshis." As the group traversed down Butter Bridge, they pondered about why the bridge was broken up at certain intervals. Maybe it was because someone planted bombs at certain intervals and blew them up, but no one would ever know.

Everything was going as predicted until the group reached the middle portion, at which point there were green mushroom stalks that were basically dangerous seesaws. If one were to stand on one of the stalks, the other stalk would rise, causing the first one to sink.

Obviously, Mario and Luigi had no trouble passing over the stalks. However, when it was Yoshi's and Jim's turns, they managed to jump onto the first stalk, but didn't pay mind to a Super Koopa flying from behind.

Mario noticed the Super Koopa and shouted, "Yoshi! Jim! Watch out!"

Just before Yoshi and Jim could turn around, the Super Koopa rammed into Jim's back, causing him to slam against Yoshi's head and flip forward over the second stalk.

It appeared for a second that Jim wasn't going to reach the next wooden log platform until Mario reacted quickly and grabbed Jim's hand before pulling him up. Simultaneously, Yoshi regained his bearings and managed to leap from the two stalks onto the platform.

"That was a close one," Jim said.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Yoshi said with a sigh of relief. After a few more mushroom stalks and flying Super Koopas, the group finally reached the wooden log platform connecting to Cookie Mountain. Mario took a few seconds to peer down at the Cheese Bridge again.

"You guys made the right choice," Mario said to Jim and Yoshi. "If it weren't for you, we would've chosen the saws without thinking."

After a short breather, Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers pressed onwards.

Cookie Mountain was one of the tallest mountains in Dinosaur Land, peaking just a tad bit higher than the top of Vanilla Dome. The summit was basically green fields all around with an average number of bushes and trees. Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers walked to the east for about an hour and 15 minutes before coming across a gray tower in the middle of the woods.

Again, there were two fences on either side of the tower, forbidding the group from going around. Jim proceeded to take off his backpack and approached the right-side fence.

"What are you doing?" Luigi asked.

"I don't want to lose my backpack in that castle," Jim replied. "I'm gonna throw it over the fence and pick it up when we're done looking inside." Jim then tossed his backpack over the fence, which landed about nine feet from the other side.

Near the tower's front door was a sign that read, "THIS IS COOKIE FORTRESS. UNLESS YOU CAN'T SWIM, DO NOT ENTER AT ALL."

"What does that mean?" Yoshi asked.

"I don't know. Maybe there's a huge tank we need to swim through to get to the top," Jim replied. "Hopefully, we'll find something important." There was no knob on the front door, which meant that it was either an automated one, or one that can be simply pushed open.

Luigi noticed one of the ridges on the door was lighter in color than the dark-brown paint that coated the door.

"Maybe that's a hidden opener...?" Luigi asked himself.

Just as he reached to push in the ridge, the front door rose upwards, revealing that it was motion-activated.

"Wow. I wouldn't give Bowser's minions credit, but I feel like I have to," Luigi said with awe. "They may be lazy and all, but at least they're clever inventors."

The group began to walk into Cookie Fortress, ready to continue their search for Yoshi's friends.

The foyer inside the fortress was designed with grayish-black walls and blue carpets that covered the floor. There wasn't a lit-up chandelier hanging from the ceiling, but water ripple reflections could be seen mirroring off the walls. The reason for that was because there was a big glass panel on the far end near the ceiling that enclosed part of a giant water tank.

Although the group was amazed at first, they knew they had to focus on their goal. Just below the glass panel was a short hallway leading to a see-through elevator.

As soon as Mario called the elevator down, he said to Jim, "There's no way it's taking us to the top. You might be right about us having to swim, buddy." It took about five seconds before the elevator reached the ground.

The group entered the elevator, which had only two buttons that made it go either up or down. Immediately after Mario pushed the "up" button, the doors closed, and the elevator zoomed upwards for several seconds before stopping in the middle of the tank.

Shortly after the elevator stopped moving, a countdown clock above the doors showed that they would open in ten seconds. The clock started and a single airtight helmet rose from the floor; the elevator was designed for only one person to get to the tank.

Jim immediately put the helmet on as he knew that he would drown without it. The good news was that Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi had strong lungs, meaning that they can hold their breath underwater for long periods of time.

The clock reached zero and the elevator doors opened quickly, letting some of the water rush into the elevator. The group started to swim upwards straight away. Various windows on the walls allowed natural light to shine into the tank, which made it easy for the group to see clearly.

Along the way, they came across a bunch of aquatic enemies such as Blurps and Fishbones and had to maneuver carefully around some mines that could easily blow up if accidentally touched. It took around 20 minutes to reach the top of the tank, which ended in a slightly dark room.

"That was a tough workout," Luigi remarked after getting out of the water.

"Yeah. I feel like I need to sit and rest," Jim replied as he dropped his helmet on the floor.

"You know now's not the time," Yoshi said. Within seconds, Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers were off again, going through a narrow hallway to the next room.

"How come you're not wet and I'm the only one with soaked clothes?" Jim asked Mario.

"You didn't waterproof your clothes before you came here," Mario responded.

After a few more minutes, the group reached the final room closest to the roof. In the center was a treasure chest mounted on a short stone pedestal.

"Is this a trap?" Yoshi asked.

"It better not be," Jim said. No one inched towards the chest for a while until Mario broke the silence.

"What are we waiting for? Someone has to open the chest," he said.

"I'll open it," Luigi replied as he walked towards the chest. He pushed the lid up to discover the treasure: a red-spotted white egg.

"Finally!" Luigi exclaimed. "Another one of your friends, Yoshi!"

"All right!" "Fantastic!" Yoshi and Mario shouted while Jim pumped his fist in the air. But the celebration didn't last long. A loud alarm went off, startling the group.

"What's happening?!" Mario asked with shock.

"I don't know!" Yoshi cried. "Luigi, get the egg!"

Just as Luigi picked the egg up, the floor collapsed, sending the group back into the tank. Suddenly, one of the windows shattered and all the water gushed out, washing everyone back into the woods.

"Wow," Jim coughed as he slowly stood up. "That was some trap."

"Is everyone okay?" Mario asked.

"I'm fine," Me too," Yoshi and Luigi said respectively. Jim ran back to where his backpack was and put it back on before rejoining Yoshi and the Mario Brothers.

"At least we got the egg," Luigi stated.

"That's good. Let's take it far away from the castle," Yoshi replied. Luigi picked the egg up and the group resumed their trek across Cookie Mountain.


	10. 4A - Meet Red Yoshi

_**Chapter 4**_

**4A - Meet Red Yoshi**

The time is now 12:50 PM. At this point, Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers were well away from Cookie Fortress with the red-spotted white egg in their possession. All of a sudden, the egg started shaking lightly.

"That egg's gonna hatch," Yoshi informed Luigi.

"Okay," Luigi replied as he set the egg on the grass. 15 seconds later, the egg cracks open, revealing a baby Red Yoshi.

"Oh my gosh. That's so cute," Jim beamed.

"Thanks for saving me," Red Yoshi thanked the group.

"Hold on a second," Yoshi wondered. "You can't come with us, Red Yoshi."

"Why not?" Red Yoshi asked.

"Because it's too dangerous," Mario replied.

"You're gonna hurt yourself so badly," Jim added in.

"No! I don't wanna stay here!" Red Yoshi complained. "I wanna fight too!"

"I'm sorry, but you can't. Mario's right," Luigi said.

"Yes, I can!" Red Yoshi exclaimed. "See those flying turtles up there?" She pointed to three Green Paratroopas hovering near a tall hill. "I can take care of them!"

"Please don't do this!" Mario pleaded as Red Yoshi ran towards the Paratroopas.

"Come back here!" Yoshi and Luigi yelled. But Red Yoshi didn't listen. She leaped onto the hill and crouched down.

"Watch me!" Red Yoshi exclaimed. She jumped up really high and landed on all three Paratroopas, cutting their wings and sending them to the ground.

After landing, Red Yoshi ran up to one of the Koopa Troopas and lunged at it with her mouth open, eating it whole. The second Koopa Troopa retreated into its shell and slid toward Red Yoshi, but she was quick enough to eat the shell. The third Koopa Troopa then lunged at Red Yoshi, trying to headbutt her, but she stayed still and ate it whole as well. Everyone was shocked at Red Yoshi's eating abilities.

"Mamma mia..." Mario gaped. "She just ate all the Koopa Troopas..."

"She sure did," Jim agreed. In just four seconds, Red Yoshi grew up to full size.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked the group. "I told you I can fight like you."

"I... I don't even know what to say," Yoshi uttered.

"You don't have to say anything," Red Yoshi responded. "May I come with you guys now?"

"I guess so. Welcome to the team," Mario said as Red Yoshi walked up to the group.

"I'm ready when you are," Red Yoshi stated. Luigi hopped onto Red Yoshi's back while Mario and Jim sat on Yoshi's back.

"All right-y. Let's-a go," Mario declared as everyone went on the move again.

"I owe you guys a big one," Red Yoshi said.

"No problem at all," Luigi replied.

"What happened before we rescued you, Red Yoshi?" Jim asked.

"Long story," Red Yoshi began. "I was only a baby when I got kidnapped. Like, why would those evil turtles pick a baby Yoshi out of all dinosaurs? That's so mean."

"I know, right?" Jim agreed.

"So, my mommy and daddy got taken away before they could come get me. I was crying so much because I didn't want them to go," Red Yoshi explained. "And apparently, my crying was so loud that it got the turtles' attention and they picked me up before running away. There was just nothing I could do."

Red Yoshi's voice trembled a little bit. "It didn't matter how much I tried to wiggle out of their hands... I was... I was doomed..." She began to tear up. "And then...some wizard...pointed a wand at me...and put me in an egg..."

Luigi stroked Red Yoshi's neck. "It's okay, Red Yoshi."

"I... I don't know...w-what h-happened...later o-on..." Red Yoshi cried. "I know you saved me...b-but...I... I miss Mommy and Daddy!"

Luigi got off Red Yoshi's back and hugged her. Mario, Jim, and Yoshi also teared up, but they managed to keep it together.

"I'm so sorry. I know you miss your parents, Red Yoshi," Luigi said in a soft voice. "But I promise we'll find them before you know it. Okay?"

"Okay..." Red Yoshi sniffled.

"You want a few minutes to calm down?" Luigi asked.

"No... I'm fine..." Red Yoshi muttered as Luigi hopped onto her back. After taking a deep breath, Red Yoshi started walking again, beckoning Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers to do the same.


	11. 4B - Coin-Coated Clouds

**4B - Coin-Coated Clouds**

It's been 45 minutes since Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers set off with their new friend Red Yoshi, and they've walked almost the entirety of Cookie Mountain. The eastern side of the summit was a hilly area with not as much vegetation as the west side. Jim set his backpack down and took out a strawberry Nutrigrain bar and one of his apples.

"I haven't eaten anything since we woke up," Jim said while eating his snacks. "You guys want any of my snacks?"

"No, thanks," Mario replied.

"I'm not hungry either," Luigi added in.

"How long have we been walking for?" Red Yoshi asked.

Jim checked his wristwatch. "It's 1:46. We've been going for almost an hour."

"Wow. I guess time flies when you're walking a long way around," Red Yoshi commented.

"Quite literally, in fact," Mario quipped. "We've went in a giant half-circle so far." Everyone giggled for a few seconds.

"Good one, bro," Luigi said.

"What's next, guys?" Jim asked.

"Maybe we can try and find a powerup to hold on to for later," Mario replied.

"Does that mean I can turn into-"

"I don't think so, buddy," Luigi interrupted Jim. "You might be immune to all the powerups we use."

"Okay... I understand..." Jim said in a disappointed tone of voice. After a few more minutes, the group came across two rows of four Rotating Blocks.

"This is gonna be tough," Mario said.

"REALLY tough. It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Jim agreed in response.

Yoshi peered at the faces on the blocks. "How about we look at all the blocks' faces? Maybe one of them has a different feeling than the others."

"Not a bad idea," Luigi said.

Just as the group was about to split to examine each of the rows, Yoshi saw two Galoombas out of the corner of his left eye. "Guys. Somebody's coming."

"Where?" Red Yoshi asked. She turned to see the Galoombas and ran straight to a large hill. "Over here! Hide!"

Jim, Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers ran towards the hill before hiding behind it. Mario slowly inched to the left and peered at the Galoombas.

"What are they doing?" Jim asked.

"Shh," Mario shushed Jim.

"Are you sure no one's going to find that secret item?" the first Galoomba asked the second one.

"I'm absolutely sure! Why would you think I'm lying?"

"I don't know. Just because." The Galoombas stopped for a brief second to gaze at the blocks.

"Remind me which one the secret is in," the first Galoomba said.

"It's in the row furthest from the hill; the block is the third from the left."

"Got it." The Galoombas walked off again into the distance.

"Did you hear all that, bro?" Luigi asked.

"Every single word," Mario replied. The group walked up to the Rotating Blocks again. This time, they gathered near the row furthest from the hill.

"May I get that item for you, Mario?" Jim asked.

"You sure can, Jim."

Jim walked underneath the third Rotating Block from the left. "I hope I can jump high enough," he said to himself.

Holding both of his fists up, Jim managed to hit the block, releasing a Beanstalk that rose toward the sky.

"Oh boy!" Mario exclaimed. "It's a Beanstalk leading to a Coin Heaven!" All of a sudden, Jim's expression changed from excited to disbelief.

"Wait- What?!" Jim blurted out.

"We're going to climb that Beanstalk up into the clouds. I know there are some Coins me and Luigi want to get." Luigi looked at Jim for a brief second; he is now feeling anxious.

"But I... I don't..."

"What's wrong, Jim?" asked Luigi.

"I-I'm not...s-sure if..." Jim stuttered.

Luigi turned to whisper to Mario. "He's afraid of heights, bro."

"Well, what are we gonna do? He can't just stand down here by himself," Mario pointed out.

"Just look up during the climb, Jim," Yoshi told Jim. "You'll get scared more if you look down."

"I-I'll try..." Jim replied.

"Keep an eye on Jim, Mario," Luigi reminded Mario.

"Okey-dokey." The Mario Brothers proceeded to jump onto the blocks before Yoshi and Red Yoshi joined them. Jim reluctantly jumped towards the blocks and Yoshi pulled him up.

As he gazed upwards at the Beanstalk, Jim felt his heart beat really fast and placed his hand on his chest. "M-my heart..."

"It's okay, Jim," Yoshi assured Jim. "Take it easy."

"Who's going first?" Mario asked.

"Me," Red Yoshi responded. "Let ladies go first, will you?"

"Okay. Fine," Mario chuckled. Red Yoshi began climbing up the Beanstalk followed by Luigi, Jim, Mario, and Yoshi. As the group climbed higher and higher, Jim's breathing slowly shallowed, but not too much.

"Oh m-my g-gosh," Jim murmured. He was able to scale the Beanstalk at a steady pace despite being scared. It took about 14 minutes to get to the Coin Heaven. After Red Yoshi and Luigi stepped onto the clouds, Luigi helped Jim off the Beanstalk.

"The hard part's over, buddy," Luigi said before Mario and Yoshi reached the clouds. "You're doing great."

"Okay..."

"Now, here's the plan," Mario instructed everyone. "Me and Luigi are gonna try to find as many Coins as possible, so it might take a while."

"While we're hunting for the Coins, you guys stay down here. Got it?" Luigi added in.

"Sure," answered Red Yoshi and Yoshi.

"G-good luck u-up th-there," Jim said in a shaky voice.

"Thanks, Jim," Mario called as he leaped onto the top cloud with Luigi.

"How many do you think are up here?" asked Luigi.

"I'm guessing between 30 and 45," Mario replied. Just a few seconds later, the Mario Brothers came across a boatload of Coins.

"Oh my goodness!" Mario exclaimed. "Look at all those Coins! There's so many of them!"

"This is the most I've ever seen in years!" Luigi acknowledged.

"How about we each take half of the pile?" Mario offered.

"Great idea. I'll count the Coins I pick up," Luigi replied. And with that, the Mario Brothers started collecting the Coins.

* * *

Back on the bottom cloud, Yoshi and Red Yoshi stood patiently, waiting for Mario and Luigi to come back with their share. Jim, on the other hand, was slowly pacing back and forth. Jim was careful not to go too close to the edge, but he accidentally looked down at the ground moments later. He screamed with fright and hurriedly backed up into Yoshi's arms.

"What did I tell you, Jim?" Yoshi asked.

"I-I'm s-sorry... I d-didn't mean t-to..." Jim stammered.

"I understand. Mistakes happen,"

After about six minutes, Mario and Luigi came back to the bottom cloud. It turned out that there were 40 Coins up on top and each of them got twenty to save for later.

"When we get back home, me and Luigi are putting these Coins in our bank account," Mario told everyone. "Hopefully, we'll save enough to buy an expensive TV or something."

"What about that go-kart you promised me?" Luigi asked.

"I only promised you that if you plumbed all our drains for six months straight," Mario reminded Luigi.

"Anything else you need up here?" Red Yoshi asked the Mario Brothers.

"I think we're good," Luigi responded.

"Follow me," Mario said as he led everyone to the southeastern end of the Coin Heaven. "All we need to do is jump off the clouds toward-" Mario started, but Jim interrupted him.

"NO! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I CAN'T DO THAT!"

"Jim, calm down," Luigi said to Jim.

"I CAN'T JUMP OFF! I'LL DIE!" Jim shouted. Mario approached Jim and put his hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Don't be silly, Jim. You're not gonna die," Mario assured Jim.

"B-but...i-it's...too h-high!" Jim stuttered. He's on the verge of tears right now.

"I know. I understand," Mario said in a soft voice. "But we don't have a choice. We can't go anywhere if we stay on the clouds forever."

"He's right, buddy," Luigi chimed in. "We have to jump if we're gonna save Princess Peach and Yoshi's friends." Luigi proceeded to hop onto Red Yoshi's back.

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Mario's head. "I have an idea."

"W-what...i-is it...?" Jim asked in a shaky voice.

"How about you sit in front on Yoshi's back? I'll hold on to you so you don't fall off," Mario offered.

"Y-you pr-promise...?" Jim stuttered.

"I promise I won't let you die," Mario replied. Jim slowly got on top of Yoshi's back before Mario did the same. As he gripped Jim's torso, Mario felt Jim shaking uncontrollably.

"Mamma mia. He's shaking," Mario said to himself. "Hey. Buddy. It's okay. Take a deep breath," Mario whispered.

"I-I'm tr-trying..." Jim whimpered.

"It'll be over in a few seconds," Yoshi said as Jim held onto his neck. "Trust me." By now, Jim was unable to speak clearly due to being choked up from his anxiety.

"Is everyone ready?" Mario asked Yoshi, Red Yoshi, and Luigi.

"Yes, we are," Red Yoshi responded.

"Let's jump," Luigi stated.

"Okey-dokey," Mario said. "On three. One..." Jim slowly closed his eyes. "Two..." Yoshi and Red Yoshi crouched down, ready to jump. "Three!"

Right on cue, the Yoshis leaped off the clouds towards a giant forest down below. Mario, Luigi, and the Yoshis screamed with thrill during the descent while Jim tried to breathe deeply. They passed over the summit of Cookie Mountain, falling at about 60 miles per hour.

Mario and Luigi have been to a bunch of Coin Heavens in the past and landed safely after each jump from them. Will they prove Jim wrong upon landing in the forest?


	12. 4C - The Forest of Illusion

**4C - The Forest of Illusion**

By the time Jim, Yoshi, Red Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers jumped off the Coin Heaven towards the giant forest known as the Forest of Illusion, it was 2:13 PM. The group was making good progress so far.

The fall took around 12 seconds from start to finish. Once everyone reached the ground, they stumbled and rolled all over the grass, given that it was a hard landing. Mario immediately picked himself up and walked to Jim, who was lying on his right side.

After helping Jim off the ground, Mario asked Jim if he was okay.

"Yeah... I guess it wasn't that bad after all..." Jim muttered as everyone else stood up.

"I knew you'd say that," Mario said with a smile. "You know what? You're a brave kid, Jim. I'm so proud of-" Jim instantly started crying again because he was still shaken from the jump.

Mario kneeled next to Jim and put his arm around him. "Hey. Hey. Buddy. You're okay. It's all over," Mario coaxed Jim.

"B-but...I-I'm...st-still..." Jim sobbed.

"I know. I know," Mario replied. "You're still scared from earlier."

Suddenly, a slightly loud voice jeered out of nowhere. "Oh, boo hoo! Little boy's upset...!" Everyone except Jim turned to see a giant tree with an evil face.

"Wha- That tree didn't just talk!" Mario said in shock after he stood back up.

"Oh, yes I did...!" the tree boomed. A few seconds later, four more trees showed their faces and cackled at the group.

"Hahahaha! There's no way out of here...!" one of trees taunted.

"You're going to be stuck here forever...!" another tree bellowed. Jim slowly turned to see the northmost tree draw his face in. Yoshi, Red Yoshi, and the Mario Brothers also gazed at the tree in fear.

There was a brief moment of silence before the tree popped his face out screaming, "BAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The group shrieked with terror and began running south. While running, Red Yoshi tripped over a tree root and fell forwards, but she quickly got back up and continued running. Eventually, the group found themselves in a huge open space; not one evil tree laid within the area.

"Oh my..." Yoshi panted. "This is even scarier than the haunted house."

"At least it wasn't ghosts this time," Luigi agreed.

Shortly after the Mario Brothers, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi caught their breaths, Mario saw Jim walking away.

"Hey- Jim! Where are you going?" he called to Jim.

"I... I c-can't...t-take it!" Jim cried. "It's...t-too m-much...for m-me!"

"No! Wait! Jim, please!" Mario shouted as he started after Jim. Luigi held his arm out in front of Mario.

"Mario, stay back," Luigi said.

"B-but why?" Mario complained.

"He needs to be left alone."

"But I don't... It doesn't..." Mario stammered. "I thought he'd be okay after we jumped!"

"He's just a kid, bro," Luigi replied as Jim disappeared into the trees. "It takes time for kids to get over their fears."

"I guess you're right," Mario said with a sigh. "How long is it gonna take until he's calmed down?"

"I don't know. Maybe five minutes?" Luigi guessed.

"I feel bad for Jim too," Red Yoshi said in a disappointed tone of voice. Yoshi nodded in agreement. Luigi was right; exactly five minutes passed before Jim walked back to rejoin the group.

"Hi, buddy," Mario said as he knelt in front of Jim. "You feeling better?"

"Kind of. It was just too scary, you know," Jim replied as he hugged Mario.

"I'm sorry you got scared too much," Mario said softly. "But it's all good now. No one's after us, buddy."

"So, where were we?" Yoshi asked as Mario stood back up.

"Well, we can't stay in this forest forever," Mario replied. "We obviously need to find some way to get out of here."

"How are we doing this?" Luigi questioned Mario. For a few moments, Mario tried to think very hard about an easy way out of the forest.

"I have an idea," Jim said, breaking the silence.

"What are you thinking of?" Luigi asked.

"I'd say we all split up and go find our exit. If we stayed together, it would take too long, so I think splitting up would be faster."

"You're a genius," Mario complimented Jim. "Brilliant."

"What's the split-up going to be like?" Red Yoshi asked.

"Let me stand over here," Jim said, walking a few steps to the north and pointing to the northeast corner. "Mario and Yoshi, you go to the top-right corner." He turned to Luigi and pointed west. "Luigi, you come with me to the left."

"Okay," Luigi responded.

"And Red Yoshi, you go with-" Jim stopped speaking because realized something else. "Oh right. You have to go by yourself. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Red Yoshi replied. "I can handle being by myself. Where am I going?"

"You are going to the bottom-right corner," Jim instructed Red Yoshi as he pointed to the southeast corner.

"Deal."

"All right, everyone. Let's start searching," Jim declared.

"Okey-dokey," Mario and Luigi replied.

"Good luck, guys," Yoshi said as he walked off with Mario.

"Thanks!" Red Yoshi, Jim, and Luigi called as they went their respective ways.


	13. 5A - How Do We Get Out of Here?

_**Chapter 5**_

**5A - How Do We Get Out of Here?**

The time is now 2:20 PM. Having gone on their own towards the northeast, Mario and Yoshi walked under tens of tall trees with thick branches and numerous leaves.

"I've never seen this many trees in a forest before," Mario said to Yoshi.

"Me neither," Yoshi replied. "This is the furthest I've ever traveled in Dinosaur Land."

"Good for you."

After another 45 minutes of walking, Mario and Yoshi come across a Yellow Question Mark Block next to a giant oak tree. Upon seeing the block, Mario instantly felt determined to see if a powerup was in it.

"Are you sure about that?" Yoshi asked. "I have a feeling that something's gonna pop out at us if you hit the block."

"Come on, Yoshi. You worry too much," Mario chuckled.

"It's not funny, Mario," Yoshi retorted. Mario and Yoshi approached the block while Mario went underneath it.

"I hope there's a Fire Flower in the block; I haven't picked one up in who knows how long," Mario said to himself. Without hesitation, he jumped and hit the block, but nothing came out.

"Huh? Maybe it's empty...?" Mario wondered.

Suddenly, the empty block fell to the ground and a gray tarpaulin net rose from underneath Mario and Yoshi's feet, lifting them five and a half feet in the air.

"What on Earth just happened?!" Mario shouted.

"You know what happened!" Yoshi argued. "I told you not to fall for it!"

Mario attempted to reach for the net's rim and scale upwards, but the rim was too high up and the tarpaulin was too slick.

"I can't get out!" Mario yelled as Yoshi tried to escape to no avail.

"The net's too big!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"HELP!" Mario and Yoshi cried.

"JIM! LUIGI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" "RED YOSHI! PLEASE!" Mario and Yoshi wailed respectively. But Luigi, Jim, and Red Yoshi were nowhere near the net, so it was near impossible for help to be on the way now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jim and Luigi have been walking for 45 minutes, shortly before Mario and Yoshi were caught in the tarpaulin net. The area they're in is an open path with the trees serving as side borders.

"Where are we now?" Luigi asked Jim.

"I'd love to tell you if I've been to this forest before, but I can't," Jim replied as he drank from one of his water bottles. It wasn't very long before Jim and Luigi entered a sunflower patch that went up to just below their knees.

"Those sunflowers are pretty short," Jim remarked. "I've heard they can grow between six and ten feet."

"Well, apparently, not in this world," Luigi replied. "I can't believe we still haven't found anything yet."

"I can help you, fellas!" an unseen voice called out to Jim and Luigi's right.

"Who said that?" Jim asked. Almost immediately, a yellow caterpillar pops his head out of the sunflowers.

"Good afternoon. My name's Wiggler," the caterpillar introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you," Jim responded.

"I'm glad to meet you too. Are you looking for something?" Wiggler said.

"We've been walking through this forest for, like, an hour trying to get out of here. I don't know how we ended up in the forest, but we did," Jim explained.

"There are also some scary trees that frightened us a while ago," Luigi added in.

"You're right about the scary trees," Wiggler replied. "But I can tell you about the good trees if you can give me something to eat. I've been hungry for way too long."

"I've got the perfect snack," Jim said as he unzipped his backpack to get his lunchbox out. He picked one of his McIntosh apples and handed it to Wiggler. "How about this apple?"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Wiggler thanked Jim. "It just so happens that apples are my favorite food of all time."

"Brilliant," Luigi replied. "Now, you said something about the good trees, right?"

"Not just any good trees; they're called 'Truthful Trees'. Obviously, they're precious trees that are 100% honest. No joke," Wiggler said. "Those scary trees you encountered tell NOTHING but lies."

"How do you know the Truthful Trees are 100% honest?" Luigi asked.

"I've spoken to them many times, and they meant everything they said to me," Wiggler answered.

"What do they look like and how many are there?" Jim asked.

"There's four of them in a row and they have red flowers and yellow fruit. To find the Truthful Trees, go back to the open area where you came from and go south until you see the red flowers and yellow fruit on your right. Remember all that and you'll find the Truthful Trees easily."

"Thanks, Wiggler," "You've been an excellent help," Jim and Luigi said respectively.

"Any time, fellas," Wiggler replied. "Have a great afternoon." After Wiggler went back into the sunflower patch, Jim and Luigi started their long way back to the huge open area in the forest's middle.

* * *

At the same time Luigi and Jim encountered Wiggler, Red Yoshi had been traversing the southeast with no luck at finding an exit. Just when she was about to turn around to head back, Red Yoshi saw a medium-sized pool at her left-hand side.

"Could this be an underwater tunnel?" Red Yoshi asked herself. Almost immediately, she jumped into the pool and swam down as far as she can. Moments later, she came to the bottom, which happened to be a dead end. The pool was basically a straight tube with no intersections.

After surfacing, Red Yoshi murmured, "Well, that was a waste of time." She then started her way back to the open area.

* * *

Within another 45 minutes, Luigi, Jim, and Red Yoshi rejoined themselves; the time is now 3:50 PM.

"Any luck, Red Yoshi?" Luigi asked.

"I dove into what I thought was an underwater tunnel, but it never went anywhere," Red Yoshi replied.

"That's okay. At least you tried," Jim said. "The good news is we were able to get some directions from a caterpillar called Wiggler."

"And what did he say?" Red Yoshi asked.

"He said they're these trees called 'Truthful Trees' that have red flowers and yellow fruit," Luigi explained. "We have to go south until we see the flowers and fruit on our right. Trust me: those trees were grown to be honest all the time."

"That's great. Let's go find Mario and Yoshi," Red Yoshi said.

With that, Luigi, Jim and Red Yoshi headed northeast to where Mario and Yoshi had been attempting to find the exit themselves. Little did they know that both have been in trouble for a really long time.


	14. 5B - The Truthful Trees' Knowledge

**5B - The Truthful Trees' Knowledge**

43 minutes have passed since Luigi, Jim, and Red Yoshi set off to meet up with Mario and Yoshi. Luigi thought now was the time to call out for Mario since he knew how long it took to come upon Wiggler.

Luigi cupped his hands around his mouth and called, "MAAARIOOO!"

Seconds later, he barely heard Mario cry for help again, "LUIGI! HELP US!"

Luigi, Jim, and Red Yoshi immediately ran to Mario and Yoshi, who are still trapped inside the tarpaulin net.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Yoshi exclaimed as Luigi, Jim, and Red Yoshi arrived at the trap.

"How are you inside that net?" Jim asked.

"I hit a Question Mark Block near this tree because I thought there was a Fire Flower in it, and this net lifted me and Yoshi in the air! We can't even climb out of here!" Mario said.

"How are we gonna get you down?" Luigi asked.

"I don't know, but you've got to do something. Don't just stand there," Yoshi replied. All of a sudden, Jim headed straight for the tree and began climbing up the trunk.

"Jim! What are you doing?!" Luigi gasped.

"I'm gonna save Mario and Yoshi!" Jim declared.

"No! You're gonna fall and hurt yourself! Please come down from there!" Luigi pleaded. But Jim didn't listen; he kept climbing up until he got to the branches.

"Okay. Be careful, Jim. Don't slip," Jim said to himself.

"Jim, please! Climb back down!" Luigi continued to beg.

"Let me do this!" Jim shouted. He slowly crawled across the branch where the net is connected and turned his head to see where its strings were coming from.

"The net is connected to this pulley in the branches, which must have started up after Mario hit the block!" Jim called out.

"Is there a reason for the delay before the net rose up?" Yoshi asked.

"I don't know why!" Jim responded. "But just hang on a second! I'm going to untie the strings from the branch!"

"Please be careful, Jim!" Red Yoshi reminded Jim.

He slowly reached for the net's strings and took his time to untie the double-knotted portion. He felt the branch sway downwards, giving him butterflies in his stomach.

"Oh geez..." Jim muttered. It took about one minute to untie the net, which dropped to the ground and unfurled, allowing Mario and Yoshi to walk out of the net. However, the branch Jim was on cracked slightly, startling everyone. But the branch stayed in place, or so the group thought.

Jim breathed a sigh of relief, "Whew. For a second, I thought the branch was-" Suddenly, the branch officially snapped, sending Jim to the ground; Mario ran to where Jim was falling.

"I got him!" Mario cried as he reached his arms out to catch Jim. Seconds later, Jim landed in Mario's arms at a fast speed, causing both to fall forward. Both took a short while to catch their breaths before standing back up.

"You okay, Jim?" Mario asked.

"I think so," Jim replied as Luigi ran over to him.

"Oh, Jim! Please don't do this again! You had me so worried!"

"I'm sorry, Luigi. I had to climb up there," Jim said.

"You did, but you could've broken your legs if Mario didn't catch you," Luigi protested.

"I understand," Jim answered.

"Do we really have to walk all the way to the Truthful Trees?" Red Yoshi questioned.

"Yes, we have to," Luigi said.

"What Truthful Trees?" Mario asked.

"I'll tell you in a little bit," Jim replied. The group proceeded to walk back to the open area before turning towards the south to where the Truthful Trees are located.

By the time Jim, the Mario Brothers, and the Yoshis headed south, the time was 5:25 PM: under 100 minutes before sunset. During the walk, Jim explained to Mario and Yoshi about the Truthful Trees and where they were. Seven minutes afterwards, Red Yoshi spotted the red flowers and yellow fruit out of the corner of her right eye.

"We're here, guys," Red Yoshi informed everyone.

"Finally," Jim said. "I'm already getting tired of all this walking."

The group positioned themselves in front of the four Truthful Trees, whose faces are drawn in.

"They should be able to talk to us," Luigi pondered. Almost immediately, the Truthful Trees' faces slowly popped out.

"Well, hello there, my dear friends," the first Truthful Tree greeted the group.

"We hope you are having a lovely afternoon," the other three trees said simultaneously.

"Well, it hasn't been THAT lovely," Mario started. "Me and my friends have been stuck in this forest for three hours now and we can't find an easy way out of here."

"Are you able to help us, ma'ams?" Jim asked.

"Give us one second," the second Truthful Tree said before she and the other trees discussed the situation.

"I hope the Truthful Trees are actually honest," Mario stated in an unsure tone of voice.

"Why are you so unsure?" Jim asked. "At least have some faith."

"All right-y. I'll try, but I can't make any promises." It didn't take that long for the Truthful Tree quartet to wrap up their discussion.

"Are you ready to hear our instructions?" the third Truthful Tree asked the group.

"Go ahead," Luigi answered.

"First of all, we're glad to tell you that you're pretty close to the exit," the third Truthful Tree said.

"How do you know that?" Mario questioned.

"We Truthful Trees were planted in this area; the gardeners thought the south end of the Forest of Illusion was the safest part."

"Oh... So that's what the forest is called," Red Yoshi remarked.

"That's correct. You should know by now that every region in Dinosaur Land has its own name."

"Now, back to finding the exit," the first Truthful Tree chimed in. "If you turn to your left-hand side, walk forward until you see a path made of stones on the next left. There might be some enemies down there, but it's the only way out."

"Once you exit the Forest of Illusion, you will end up on Chocolate Plateau," the fourth Truthful Tree said.

"That's excellent. We couldn't have asked anybody like the four of you for directions," Yoshi said.

"Thank you so much," Mario thanked the Truthful Trees.

"Any time, my dear friends," the third Truthful Tree replied.

"Good luck out there and be very careful on the rest of your adventure," the second Truthful Tree said.

"Thanks again." "See you later," Mario and Luigi respectively told the Truthful Tree quartet.

"Shall we get a move on?" Jim asked.

"You lead us out of here, buddy," Yoshi responded.

"Wow. You're catching on to Mario and Luigi calling me that nickname," Jim commented.

"Yeah. I felt like I wanted to," Yoshi agreed with Jim.

So, Jim, the Mario Brothers, and the Yoshis headed west away from the Truthful Trees until they found the stony path and turned south again. The Truthful Trees were right; a line of enemies ranging from Galoombas to Koopa Troopas and Lakitus stood in the group's way, but everyone managed to plow their way to the forest's exit.


	15. 5C - The Chocolate Plateau

**5C - The Chocolate Plateau**

By the time Jim, the Mario Brothers, and the Yoshis exited the Forest of Illusion, it was 6:08 PM in the evening. They had made three-fourths of a loop around Dinosaur Land within just 27 hours. For a quintet of heroes to go on an adventure to save Princess Peach in a short period of time is outstanding.

The group crossed a wooden bridge that connected the Forest of Illusion to Chocolate Plateau: a desert-like flattened mountain. Typical deserts would have a high temperature of about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but because Dinosaur Land is located directly on the Equator, the high temperature evened out at 68 degrees. Just prior to entering Chocolate Plateau, Jim refilled all four of his water bottles at a small pond on the edge of the forest to help hydrate everyone including himself.

"This is the coolest desert I've ever been in," Mario said. "Is it because the sun is setting?"

"Actually, I learned in school that for islands on the Equator, the temperature stays the same for all four seasons including winter," Jim explained.

"Wow. I didn't know that," Mario responded.

"That's because you slept through all our classes, dimwit," Luigi joked. His remark made everyone crack up for several seconds. Even Jim fell on the ground while laughing.

"I've... I've never l-laughed this hard b-before...!" Jim chortled.

"Sorry, bro. I didn't mean to offend you," Luigi chuckled.

"It's okay. I knew you were joking," Mario replied.

After calming down, the group resumed their trek across Chocolate Plateau. The main inhabitants on the plateau consisted of Dino Rhinos and their smaller relatives called Dino-Torches. If one were to stomp on a Dino Rhino, it would instantly split into two Dino-Torches. Even though Dino-Torches had the ability to breath fire (hence their name), Dino Rhinos can only swallow anything it encounters whole. At one point, the group came across a swarm of twelve Dino-Torches, all of which were defeated by Yoshi and Red Yoshi.

The way that both Yoshis attacked the Dino-Torches involved them eating those dinosaurs and sealing them in eggs. The eggs would then be used to either knock out other enemies or be thrown into the distance. By the time all the Dino-Torches were taken care of, Yoshi and Red Yoshi each had two eggs in their possession.

Jim was amazed at the Yoshis' new fighting skills. "I can understand you eating enemies and all that, but throwing eggs like baseballs?"

"That's another thing that all Yoshis have in common," Red Yoshi explained.

Following sunset at 7:01 PM, Jim took out his flashlight and used it to guide everyone through the dark of night in addition to the Moon illuminating the ground. While shining the flashlight in different directions, Jim accidentally pointed it at two Dino Rhinos to his right. Luckily, they were far enough away from the group, but Jim was worried that they would charge and try to eat everyone.

"As long as you don't keep the flashlight on those dinosaurs, they won't eat us," Yoshi reassured Jim.

"Okay."

As the group continued westward past the Dino Rhinos, Jim shined his flashlight at them for a brief second to ensure that they stayed put; the Dino Rhinos never inched one step.

It is now 7:59 PM; Jim, the Mario Brothers, and the Yoshis approached a staggered row of five cacti and three large boulders that formed a triangle near the leftmost cactus.

"Let's call it a night here," Jim said. "I'm not that tired, but I need as much sleep as possible."

"That was good timing," Red Yoshi replied. "My eyes feel like they're shutting down."

While Jim walked near one of the boulders to brush his teeth, Mario warned the Yoshis and Luigi, "I wouldn't sleep next to the cactus. If you toss and turn... Umm... You know what'll happen."

Luigi and Red Yoshi lied down next to the leftmost boulder while Yoshi laid a good distance away from the rightmost cactus; Mario and Jim positioned themselves on different ends of the north-facing boulder.

"Good night, guys," Jim said to everyone.

"Good night, Jim," Mario and Luigi replied.

"Sleep well," Yoshi and Red Yoshi added in. Within minutes, the group dozed off, ending the second day.

"Jim. Wake up, buddy." Jim slowly awakened to see Mario kneeling to his right side. It was still dark outside.

"Mario...?" Jim said in a groggy voice. "Why did you...?" Jim stopped himself to look at his wristwatch. "6:35...? Oh man... That's so early..."

"I know it is," Mario responded. "But I thought we'd get a head-start this morning." Jim slowly stood up and sees Luigi, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi all ready to go.

"One second. I need to change my clothes," Jim said.

"No rush, Jim," Mario replied. Jim took out his second set of extra clothes, as well as his deodorant, teeth brushing stuff, and breathmints, and hid behind the boulder he slept beside to get ready.

Within a couple minutes, Jim was all set to press on with the adventure.

"What are we gonna come upon next?" Jim asked Mario.

"Maybe another castle; but I have no idea right now." Mario and Jim hopped onto Yoshi's back before Luigi got on Red Yoshi's back.

"Let's roll, guys," Yoshi declared. And the group was off again, heading north up Chocolate Plateau.


	16. 6A - Wendy's Castle

_**Chapter 6**_

**6A - Wendy's Castle**

It is now 7:45 AM. While Jim, the Mario Brothers, and the Yoshis continued their journey across Chocolate Plateau, Jim got out his lunchbox and split his second turkey sandwich in half. He then gave one of the halves to Mario.

"Thanks, buddy," Mario thanked Jim.

"You're welcome. Do you want anything else?"

"I'd like one of your apple juices," Mario responded as Jim gave him an apple juice carton.

"That should fill you up," Jim stated.

After another 15 minutes, the group came across a wooden sign that read, "GO UP TO WENDY'S CASTLE. GO UP AND RIGHT TO BAYSHORE." The sign also had blue arrows that pointed to those places.

"What's at the bayshore?" asked Luigi.

"We'll go there after we explore the castle," Jim replied. Several minutes after leaving the sign, the group arrived at Wendy's Castle: three giant blonde-colored fortresses combined into one with three towers affixed to the roof.

"This is even bigger than Cookie Fortress," Mario remarked as he and Jim got off Yoshi's back. After dismounting Red Yoshi, Luigi walked up to the giant wooden door, figuring out how to open it.

"Luigi. There's a glass box on your left," Yoshi pointed out. The translucent glass box located left of the wooden door had a small latch on the bottom with a padlock holding it closed.

"Who needs a key anyway?" Luigi said to himself. He gripped the padlock and ripped it off cleanly, breaking the latch.

"Oh my gosh," Jim gaped. "I never knew you and Mario were so strong."

"That's why we're the SUPER Mario Brothers," Mario commented.

"Yeah. That makes sense."

Luigi lifted the glass box up, revealing a red button, which he pushed to make the wooden door rise upward.

"Let's do this," Luigi announced.

"Ladies first," Red Yoshi butted in as she went in before the others. The foyer of Wendy's Castle was designed with dark brown walls and orange carpets that spread out across the floor.

"I have a feeling there's gonna be lava in this castle," Jim stated. "Cookie Fortress had water in it because of the gray walls and blue carpets."

"Good analogy," Mario acknowledged. The group proceeded to walk the long foyer to a wide, open doorway leading to a narrow hall.

A sign above the doorway said, "YOU THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO REACH THE CENTER OF THE CASTLE? IF YOU DO, THEN TRY NOT TO GET LOST OR EVEN END UP IN A FIREY BLAZE."

"Guys, we can't mess around this time," Yoshi pointed out. "That includes you, Mario."

"Okay. I'll try not to," Mario answered.

Without hesitation, everyone proceeded into the hallway, which led to a room filled with spiky gears and pillars. The floor was made with indigo-colored tiles and the walls were painted bluish-black. Luigi gazed at the gears and pillars, wondering whether they would break off the walls if he accidentally stepped on a hidden switch within one of the tiles.

"That's a possibility," Mario responded. "Maybe Bowser built this castle to try and hurt us in any way he can."

During the next ten minutes, the group stayed in the center of the room to not inadvertently pace into any of the gears and pillars. Suddenly, Mario saw a trail of Coins that formed an L-shape, ending on his right-hand side.

"Should I go and follow the Coins?" Mario asked himself.

"I wouldn't follow the Coins, Mario," Jim warned Mario.

"Just this one time, please?" Mario asked.

"Fine. But run back here when you're done," Jim gave in with a sigh.

Luigi, Jim, and the Yoshis stayed in place while Mario made his way to the end of the Coin path. Behind the last Coin was a semicircular gray button that merged into the wall. Mario pressed his right foot against the button, spawning a Yellow Question Mark Block above him. Mario hit the block, and a Fire Flower emerged from the top.

"Finally! I found what I've been looking for after all this time!" Mario exclaimed as he grabbed the Fire Flower and placed it in his pocket.

"See? Nothing happened," Mario said as he walked back to where the Coin path began.

"Okay. I believe you now," Jim replied, having been proved wrong.

"Here's a fun fact when it comes to Fire Flowers," Luigi told Jim as the group resumed their trek through the castle. "If you think that I can throw orange fireballs like Mario, I was born to throw them differently."

"How exactly?" Jim asked.

"For some reason, my fireballs are colored green and they float through the air in a straight line. Mario's version just bounces across the ground."

"That's cool," Jim remarked.

After another four minutes, Red Yoshi said, "So far, nothing bad has happened, which is good."

"Are you sure about that?" Yoshi asked.

"Actually, no." Just as Red Yoshi was answering Yoshi's question, Mario's right foot landed on a tile that pressed down a few inches. The sound the tile made stopped everyone in their tracks.

"What did you do?" Yoshi asked Mario.

"Nothing," Mario responded. "That tile must've not been-"

"MARIO! THE CEILING'S FALLING!" Luigi cried. Mario looked up at the ceiling caving in from above. The ceiling was covered with sharp spikes pointed downwards.

"WAHHH!" Mario screamed with fear. He quickly searched the floor for somewhere to hide in. "WHERE DO WE HIDE?!"

"IN HERE!" Jim exclaimed, pointing to a large gap to his top-left. Everyone bolted for the gap and ducked as low as they could.

"Don't move a muscle!" Mario ordered the group. Three seconds later, the ceiling hit the ground and barely touched Mario's cap, frightening him even more.

"Please don't squash us..." Mario prayed to himself, anticipating the spikes above everyone extending into the gap. After ten seconds of tension, the spiked ceiling slowly rose back up away from the floor. Everyone but Mario breathed a sigh of relief as they walked out of the gap unharmed.

"Thank goodness we're saved," Red Yoshi said.

"Yeah. That was too close," Yoshi agreed.

"So, you want to lead us again?" Luigi asked Mario, who slowly glanced at him with an anxious look on his face. "What's wrong, bro?"

"I need a moment..." Mario murmured as he walked a few steps forward and sat against the wall. He slowly hung his head towards the ground and removed his cap.

"Is Mario okay?" Jim asked.

"I think he's upset because of the spiked ceiling. Remember when you were crying after the Coin Heaven?" Luigi responded.

"Yeah. Should we give him five minutes?"

"Maybe; but it might be shorter or longer. We'll just wait and see."

Although Mario did tear up, he didn't sob during his short break. It took about three minutes before Mario was ready to continue through Wendy's Castle.

"I'm ready now," Mario said as he put his cap back on.

"Okay. Let's see if there are more of my friends in this castle," Yoshi stated.


	17. 6B - Preparing for Mario's Entrance

**6B - Preparing for Mario's Entrance**

Rewinding back to 8:02 AM, shortly after Jim, the Mario Brothers, and the Yoshis passed the sign directing them to Wendy's Castle; Wendy O. Koopa and her four Koopaling sidekicks Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Ludwig von Koopa, and Roy Koopa gathered in the central arena of the castle for a quick meeting.

"All right. In case you didn't know already, King Bowser informed me that Mario and his friends are nearing our castle right now," Wendy told everyone. "They somehow managed to escape the Forest of Illusion and bypass the Dino Rhinos in Chocolate Plateau, which he kind of predicted last afternoon."

"I thought King Bowser said that Mario wouldn't make it here alive," Roy noted.

"He did, but at the same time, he knew about Mario's endurance after his first defeat five years ago," Wendy responded.

"So, what should we do if Mario enters the arena?" asked Larry.

"We'll worry about that later," Wendy replied. "For now, I need you and Morton to go to the security room and monitor the cameras to check on Mario and make sure the booby traps are working. Roy and Ludwig, you stay in here with me."

"Got it," Roy and Ludwig answered.

"Let's go, Morton," Larry beckoned to Morton. They headed out of the arena's door and made a right to a hidden elevator concealed within the wall. This elevator took Larry and Morton to the security room inside the middle of the center tower.

"You know the drill, Morton. Start up the traps as soon as Mario walks near them, but if he manages to get to the arena, you tell Wendy immediately," Larry instructed Morton as both put on their headsets.

"What cameras should I look at?" Morton asked.

"You check the east side, and I'll check the west side."

After getting settled at his station, Morton connected his comm system to Bowser's earpiece. "King Bowser, this is Morton."

* * *

Back in Bowser's secret hideout, he heard Morton's voice and began talking to him. "Go ahead."

"Just wanted to tell you that me and Larry are in the security room checking the cameras and booby traps. We're hoping that Mario doesn't get to the central arena and steal our treasure."

"Good for you," Bowser replied. "Remind me what traps you set up."

"There's a spiked ceiling that should squash him if he steps on this hidden switch while walking. There are also some powerups that if collected, some of your Koopa Troopas will ambush him," Morton explained.

"Very smart," Bowser complimented Morton. "Keep doing what you're doing, and Mario should leave Dinosaur Land like this," Bowser snapped his fingers after finishing his response.

* * *

"All right. You take care, King Bowser," Morton said before deactivating his comm system. "How's it looking, Larry?"

"Mario just entered the foyer and he's heading towards the Danger Hall," Larry replied as he viewed two cameras mounted on the front and back ends of the foyer.

The Danger Hall got its name from the traps that Morton mentioned to Bowser. Up until Mario received the Fire Flower from the secret Yellow Question Mark Block, Larry and Morton were eagerly anticipating the Koopa Troopa ambush upon the block being spawned.

"Get ready to release the Koopa Troopas," Larry told Morton.

"I'm on it." Morton observed Mario getting the Fire Flower and immediately pressed an orange button to open the Koopa Troopas' cages on the left and right walls, only for an error buzzer to go off.

"What just...?" Morton asked himself as he pushed the button three more times to no avail. "Larry, the cages aren't opening."

"Are you sure?" Larry asked.

"I tried pressing that button over and over again." Morton pressed the orange button four more times, but nothing still happened. "See?"

"Why is it not working?" Larry asked.

"Maybe it's..." Morton started to say but stopped himself to realize something. "Wait a second. Ludwig must have locked the doors too tight."

"Well, shame on him," Larry remarked. "He must have followed the order too literally."

"Did you double-check the spiked ceiling?" Morton asked.

"I quintuple-checked the ceiling. It should work," Larry responded.

"I hope so."

Five minutes later, Mario inadvertently stepped on the hidden switch that began lowering the spiked ceiling.

"So far, so good," Larry said to himself.

"Oh, look at him!" Morton taunted when he saw Mario and his friends run to the west side of the room. "He's such a scaredy-cat!"

"Splat!" Larry and Morton exclaimed with laughter as soon as the ceiling hit the ground. They assumed that the floor was flat all around and that Mario was squashed by the spikes.

"I can't wait to see this plumber-" Larry started, but was interrupted when the ceiling rose back up, revealing that Mario and his friends survived. "What?! They're alive?!"

"What happened?" Morton asked.

"No one told us there were gaps in the floor!"

"Oh no..." Morton mumbled. "King Bowser's gonna be so angry... What do we do?"

"We'll just have to tell Wendy," Larry answered.

"What about the other powerup traps? I thought there were three more," Morton said.

"You're right. I guess we'll stay here until then." Both Larry and Morton continued to monitor Mario's progress.

Mario proceeded to spawn three more Yellow Question Mark Blocks along the way; all of them respectively held ten Coins, a Super Mushroom, and a red-spotted white egg that Red Yoshi took for herself.

Morton pressed three different colored buttons that corresponded to each trap, but neither of them worked because Ludwig still took the order of locking the cage doors tight too literally.

"That does it. I'm calling Wendy," Larry declared. He connected his comm system to Wendy's earpiece and reported that all the booby traps failed to work properly.

"Get to the arena now," Wendy stated.

"We're on our way," Larry replied as he and Morton left the security room and hurried back to the central arena.

Fighting Mario and his friends is the Koopalings' last chance to banish them from Dinosaur Land. Will Wendy and her sidekicks win the battle, or will they admit defeat and flee the castle?


	18. 6C - Battling the Koopaling Quintet

**6C - Battling the Koopaling Quintet**

The time is now 8:51 AM. Having survived being squashed by the spiked ceiling in the Danger Hall and collected two powerups plus ten Coins and a red-spotted white egg; Jim, the Mario Brothers, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi finally arrived at the central arena's front door where Wendy O. Koopa and her fellow Koopalings awaited their arrival.

"I'm feeling a bit nervous right now," Jim said.

"Why is that?" Mario asked.

"If we have to fight whoever Wendy is, I don't know if I'll make it."

"You'll be fine, Jim. I promise," Mario assured Jim. While Mario was talking to Jim, Luigi eyeballed a Rotating Block to the left of the front door.

"Mario. I think there's another powerup over here," Luigi informed Mario.

"Oh boy! Let's see what's in that block!" Mario said with delight. He walked underneath the block and hit it, revealing a white and orange feather that slowly floated to the ground.

"What kind of feather is that?" Luigi asked. Neither of the Mario Brothers have seen an item like that before. Jim reached his hand to the feather and caught it before putting it his shorts pocket.

"How about I hold on to this and I'll give it to you if you need it?" Jim asked Mario.

"Great idea," Mario replied. "Well, here we go, guys."

Without hesitation, both Mario and Luigi pushed open the front door, allowing the group to enter the arena. Inside the central arena was a circular rocky platform surrounded by a moat of lava and bordered by rock walls.

Wendy approached the group and stated, "Well, well, well. Look who we have standing in front of us: Mario, Luigi, and two of your Yoshi friends."

Suddenly, Morton noticed Jim standing next to Luigi and asked, "Why is there a little boy with those two plumbers?"

"I'm not a little boy!" Jim retorted.

"You look like one to me," Morton responded.

"I'm not surprised that all five of you managed to come this far," Wendy said. "Getting away with those powerups and surviving the spiked ceiling? Just wow."

"And you know what else we're gonna do?" Luigi boasted. "We're gonna take all of you down in no time flat!"

"I highly doubt it," Wendy replied. "Why don't we play this game my way?" She proceeded to wave her wand in a rectangle, creating three identical clones of herself.

"Can you see through this trick?" Wendy and her clones asked.

"Larry! Morton! Ludwig! Roy! After them!" the real Wendy announced. The four other Koopalings began to charge the group.

"Let's-a go!" Mario exclaimed as he jumped over Wendy's clones. Luigi and Red Yoshi ran towards the Koopalings while Jim hopped onto Yoshi's back. Yoshi also leaped over the clones, who chased after Mario.

Simultaneously, Mario stomped on Roy and Morton, causing them to briefly hide in their shells for a few seconds. While Yoshi sprinted towards Larry, Jim jumped off his back and landed safely on his feet. Yoshi headbutted Larry, bouncing him off the rock wall and back to the platform. Larry landed face-first and got up after three seconds.

Meanwhile, Red Yoshi and Luigi continued to charge Ludwig, who got his wand out and began to shoot magic blasts at them. Luigi dodged the first few blasts while Red Yoshi ate them.

"Not too bad of a taste," Red Yoshi remarked. Just before Ludwig could shoot another blast, Luigi grabbed his wand and tossed it into the lava moat.

"My vand! How could you burn it?!" Ludwig shouted.

"You don't need a wand to fight," Luigi said, throwing Ludwig over his head.

After getting back up, Roy and Morton took out their weapons: a handheld Bill Blaster and a magic hammer. Unfortunately, for Roy, his shooting skills were off as he was distracted by checking on Wendy's clones behind Mario's back.

Mario punched the Bill Blaster out of Roy's hands and threw it into the lava. Morton managed to knock Mario to the ground with his hammer while Mario was dealing with Roy.

"Ow, my head..." Mario muttered as he slowly got back up. Because of his endurance, his head hurt for only a few seconds.

At the same time Morton hit Mario over the head with his hammer, Larry spat three blue fireballs at Jim, who ducked under all of them and shoved Larry to the ground.

"That's not how you fight me, kid!" Larry yelled.

"It's the only way for me!" Jim snapped.

"My turn, Jim!" Yoshi exclaimed. He quickly approached Larry and punched him in the chest before kicking him off to the side. Meanwhile, Mario turned to see Wendy and her clones charging at him. He only had a few seconds to determine which of her duplicates was the real one.

"Your super-jumping days are over, Mario!" Wendy and her clones hollered. Mario lunged for the one on the middle-right and grabbed her left arm, revealing the real Wendy immediately. Mario swung Wendy around twice before launching her to the western wall.

Upon impact, Wendy broke through the wall and fell backwards to an offstage ring surrounding the arena. Mario hurried back to Jim and Yoshi, stomping on Larry and Ludwig along the way.

"Buddy! Give the feather, please!" Mario ordered Jim. He pulled the feather out of his pocket and handed it to Mario, who crushed it in his fist. As a result, a yellow cape appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Mario's shirt collar.

"You can fly?!" Jim gasped while Mario jumped up and flew above the platform. "Oh my goodness!"

At the same time Mario turned into Caped Mario, Red Yoshi ran towards Morton and threw one of her eggs at his right arm, knocking his hammer out of his hand.

"Not my hammer!" Morton cried he watched his hammer fall into the lava. Suddenly, Mario picked up Morton and tossed him through the hole Wendy bashed through. While Red Yoshi got rid of Morton's hammer, Luigi saw Mario fly towards him and kicked Roy into the air. Mario caught Roy and threw him out of the arena as well.

Having witnessed three of his fellow Koopalings being defeated, Larry turned to Ludwig and asked, "Are you sure we can handle Mario and his friends?"

"I don't know, but ve'll try anyvay," Ludwig responded. Larry got out his wand and ran towards Yoshi, rapid-firing his magic blasts. Yoshi swallowed all the blasts before eating Larry's wand.

"That's not fair!" Larry cried.

"Yes, it is," Yoshi replied. He hoisted Larry above his head and threw him into Mario's hands; Mario proceeded to throw Larry through the broken wall.

"Only one more left!" Jim shouted. "Finish him, Luigi!"

Right on cue, Luigi grabbed Ludwig's right arm and swung him around twice before letting him fly through the wall too. And that was it; Mario and his friends defeated all the Koopalings in only five and a half minutes.

"Excellent fighting, everyone!" Mario exclaimed while he high-fived Luigi, Jim, and the Yoshis.

"Thanks, Mario!" Luigi and Jim responded.

"We all did it!" Yoshi added in.

After the short celebration was over, a red-buttoned podium in the center of the platform rose up about five feet.

"What does this button do?" Jim asked as everyone walked to the podium.

"Let's push it and see what happens," Mario said after taking off his cape.

Jim pressed the red button, draining the lava from the moat in about six seconds. Shortly thereafter, a hidden rocky door on the east side opened.

"I think I know what's in that room over there," Yoshi said to himself. The group proceeded through the open door and into the hidden room to discover what they've been looking for since the adventure started.


	19. 7A - I'm Proud of You, Luigi

_**Chapter 7**_

**7A - I'm Proud of You, Luigi**

"Yes! Yes! We finally found all my friends!" Yoshi squealed with excitement. There was a horde of twenty-five eggs all lined up in the central arena's hidden room; all of them each had green, red, yellow, and blue spots on their shells.

"This is fantastic!" Mario agreed. "Let's get the eggs out of here."

"How many should each of us take?" Jim asked.

Yoshi carefully counted all the eggs and said, "We'll each take five of the eggs." While everyone picked up all the eggs, Jim worried about them being too heavy to carry. Luckily, they didn't weigh that much during the walk out of Wendy's Castle.

The trip out of the castle was easier because the Danger Hall was completely deactivated upon the Koopalings' defeat. Just as the group made it through the foyer towards the front door, Jim noticed a letter attached to the wall next to the main doorway. While holding his eggs in one arm, he took the tape off the letter and began reading it:

"Dear Wendy, I'm glad that you appreciate the castle that I've built for you, Roy, Ludwig, Larry, and Morton. However, I can't just give it to you and let you do what you want. With that being said, I'm going to lay out some ground rules. First off, if Mario ever comes in, you have to take him down; it doesn't matter if it's hard or not. Next, always keep the whole castle clean; I must admit that I'm obsessed with cleanliness. Lastly, do not break any priceless valuables such as the urns, lamps, and statues; remember that I paid for those things. The last thing I should mention is important, so listen up. If I find out that you disobeyed my orders on this letter, I will come to your castle and blow it up using a detonator that I've buried in the sand nearby. I hope that I made myself clear to you. Signed, King Bowser."

Jim folded the letter and stowed it in his shorts pocket before leaving the castle with the Mario Brothers, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi. By the time everyone left the castle, it was 9:31 AM. After walking a safe distance away from the castle, the group laid the eggs on the ground and waited for all of them to hatch.

Four minutes later, the first egg hatched followed by the other twenty-four within another two minutes. Because Mario was standing in front of most of the eggs, all the Yoshis gathered around him and praised him for his bravery.

Yoshi and Red Yoshi were also recognized since they started interacting with them as soon as they hatched. Jim also got the chance to meet some of the Yoshis.

"It wasn't easy, you know," Jim said to a blue Yoshi. "We had to go around Dinosaur Land for, like, two days before we got to the castle."

Seconds later, Red Yoshi exclaimed, "Hey, everyone! Let's hear it for Super Mario!"

All the Yoshis and Jim shouted, "Hip hip hooray!" three times in a row. However, during the second cheer, Jim saw Luigi standing by himself out of the corner of his right eye. Jim immediately walked up to Luigi, concerned about his well-being.

"What's the matter, Luigi?" Jim asked.

"I don't understand it. Why is Mario getting all the credit and I'm left out?" Luigi answered.

"He's not the only one; Yoshi, Red Yoshi, and I were also thanked."

"But I helped out just as much as he did!" Luigi protested. "Look for a second!"

While Luigi pointed to the group of Yoshis, he started to tear up. "I tried calling to the Yoshis, but they didn't hear me! All they care about is Mario!"

"Come on. They don't care about just him. I'm sure they care about you too," Jim responded.

"No, they don't!" Luigi dropped to his knees and cried softly.

"Hey. Luigi. Don't cry, please. You did great during the fight," Jim said, putting his hand on Luigi's shoulder.

"W-What did you say...?" Luigi muttered; he didn't hear Jim the first time.

"I've never seen you fight like that before, and I was pretty impressed," Jim restated. "Trust me: you did a great job, Luigi. I'm so proud of you."

"T-Thank y-you, Jim..." Luigi sniffled. "You're th-the only p-person who knows I h-helped M-Mario save Y-Yoshi's friends..."

"For now, I might be. But I know Mario's gonna come over and congratulate you," Jim replied.

* * *

While Jim was talking with Luigi, Mario was telling his side of the story to some of the Yoshis.

He suddenly noticed Luigi on his knees and asked himself, "Why is Luigi...?" Mario stopped thinking because he figured out why Luigi was upset. "Oh, mamma mia..."

He began to walk away from the Yoshis and knew that he had to choose one of two decisions. "Do I apologize to him, or do I act natural?" If Mario chose to apologize to Luigi, he would have felt extremely guilty. So, he decided to forget the matter and act like nothing happened.

"Hey, Luigi. Why are you standing by yourself?" Mario asked.

"Uh, Jim pulled me aside because he wanted to tell me something," Luigi lied as he stood back up. He also wanted to forget that he was left out.

"About what?"

"It's between me and him," Luigi responded.

"I understand, bro," Mario said. "Well, why don't you come with me? We've got to figure out a way to get rid of Wendy's Castle." Mario beckoned Luigi and Jim to head back to where the Yoshis are.

* * *

Meanwhile, Wendy and her fellow Koopalings managed to escape through the back of the castle.

"Keep running!" Wendy ordered Roy, Ludwig, Larry, and Morton. "We've gotta get out of here before King Bowser blows up our castle!"

"Where do we go?!" Larry shouted.

"I don't know! But we need to leave the plateau now!" And so, the five Koopalings ran off Chocolate Plateau towards the bay, never to be seen again.


	20. 7B - Imploding the Castle

**7B - Imploding the Castle**

While Mario, Luigi, and Jim walked back to the Yoshis, Jim took Bowser's letter out of his pocket and gave it to Mario. "Mario, I found this letter next to the castle's front door. You should read it."

"Okay. Let me see here..." Mario said as he began reading the letter. "Hmm... That's interesting. I guess we'll have to do Bowser a favor and help him blow up the castle."

"Only this one time," Luigi said. "We're not helping him out afterwards."

After regrouping with the Yoshis, Mario announced, "All right-y. Listen up, please. Before we rescued all of you, Jim picked up this letter from Bowser that said that he'll explode Wendy's Castle if she disobeyed his rules. Since he's not here, however, we'll finish the job for him." The Yoshis cheered for a few seconds.

"First off, we need some shovels. I'll go see if there are any near the castle."

Mario and Yoshi headed back into the castle's foyer and looked around for the shovels. After a couple minutes of searching, Yoshi saw two of them outside a storage closet on the east side.

"Well, they say two's better than one after all," Yoshi stated. Mario and Yoshi each took their respective shovels and went back outside.

"Where should we start?" Mario asked.

"I think if Bowser wanted to blow it up, he'd want to do it from far away," Yoshi replied. Mario and Yoshi walked until they were mere steps from the other Yoshis and began digging.

"This feels like we're treasure-hunting, but instead of us finding gold, we're trying to find some explosives," Mario quipped.

"But there's no X that marks the spot," Yoshi added in.

"Well, let's pretend there's one anyway."

Five minutes passed before Jim came to check on Mario and Yoshi. By now, both had dug up half of a semi-circle.

"How's the digging going?" Jim asked.

"Still nothing, but we're getting there," Yoshi responded. Suddenly, Jim noticed some ridges barely sticking out of the sand to his right.

"Uh, guys? I think I just found the detonator," Jim informed Mario and Yoshi.

"Where? Where is it?" Mario asked with excitement.

"You see those edgy things right there?" Jim pointed to the ridges. "That looks like an open box." Mario wasted no time and rushed to the box before hurriedly digging it up.

"Yoshi, leave it to me, please!" Mario declared.

"Okay. I'll wait over there," Yoshi said as he regrouped with the other Yoshis.

After the box was nearly revealed, Mario pulled it out of the sand. The box turned out to be a modern-day demolition device that is typically used in Jim's world to blow up outdated structures.

"That's weird. I was expecting a box with a plunger before I dug this up," Mario said.

"Guys!" Jim called to the Yoshis and Luigi. "You might want to cover your ears! It's gonna be loud!" Jim turned back to Mario, who had just inserted a small key attached to the detonator to arm it.

"Let's blow this castle apart," Jim told Mario.

"Okey-dokey. Here goes nothing." Mario placed his right index finger above the red button that would activate the explosive charges placed within Wendy's Castle.

"THREE!" Jim covered his ears. "TWO!" Luigi, Red Yoshi, and Yoshi braced themselves. "ONE!" Mario raised his finger a tad bit higher. "FIRE!" Mario immediately rammed his finger onto the red button, but nothing happened. The sound of silence remained in the air.

"What on Earth?" Mario wondered as Jim took his hands off his ears.

"Is the detonator broken?" Jim asked.

"I don't know." Mario turned to Luigi and shouted, "Luigi! Would you go check on the charges, please?"

"Come on, Mario! Why do I have to do everything for you?" Luigi complained.

"Luigi, it's important," Mario urged Luigi.

"Okay. I'll go check it," Luigi answered with a sigh. He proceeded to run back to Wendy's Castle and find where the charges are to make sure they're placed properly.

Meanwhile, Jim asked Mario, "Mario, do you really think the explosives are gonna go off?"

"Um, I think so. I mean, if Bowser meant what he said about the detonator, then it should work."

"Okay. I guess there must be-" All of a sudden, Jim stopped mid-sentence and gasped with horror because he realized that there was a delay before the explosives went off. Mario panicked at the same time.

"LUIGI! GET AWAY FR-" Mario and Jim started to warn Luigi.

But they were too late. The charges went off in a staggered sequence to make the castle collapse in on itself like a pile of blocks. At the same time the implosion began, Luigi was knocked over because of the shockwaves and loud noises produced by the explosives. He cowered towards the ground as the resultant dust and sand spread everywhere and engulfed him.


	21. 7C - What Have I Done?

**7C - What Have I Done?**

After the explosives stopped firing, Jim immediately took off running into the dust clouds.

"Jim! What are you doing?!" Mario yelled at Jim. "Don't go in there!" But Jim didn't stop running and left Mario worrying about him.

As he entered the dust clouds, Jim called out, "LUIGI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He couldn't see a thing, given that his surroundings were murky all around.

"I can't see anything!" Jim coughed. Some of the sand that was in the air made it a bit hard for Jim to breathe, but he pushed himself to keep going. Jim speed-walked aimlessly for about half a minute before he saw Luigi lying on his side. He was also coughing due to the dust.

"LUIGI!" Jim cried as he ran to Luigi.

"Jim...? What happened...?" Luigi moaned.

"Grab my hand. I'm gonna get you out of here," Jim replied as he helped Luigi up and held his hand. "We're gonna walk forward, okay?" They began to walk away from the castle ruins.

"Okay..."

"You are so lucky you survived the explosion. I literally thought you were dead," Jim said. "Are you hurt?"

"No... I'm fine..." Luigi murmured.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mario and the Yoshis were praying that Luigi and Jim would make it out of the clouds unharmed. 15 seconds later, Jim and Luigi emerged back into open air. Jim was not dirty at all, except for a small number of sand grains in his hair. For Luigi, however, his face was partly covered in black soot and his overalls had a few scorch marks on them.

"He's okay, guys," Jim announced. "Nothing to worry about."

For a short moment, Mario and the Yoshis stood in silence, processing what just happened. Suddenly, everyone but Jim started laughing so hard at Luigi's appearance.

"That's th-the funniest thing I-I've ever s-seen!" Mario chuckled.

In his mind, Luigi quickly reflected on all the embarrassing times that Mario made fun of him and got him upset. His anger built up like a bomb about to explode. Jim turned to see Luigi slowly getting furious.

"Uh oh..." Jim said to himself.

"BE QUIET! ALL OF YOU!" Luigi screamed at the top of his lungs, causing Mario and the Yoshis to stop laughing instantly. "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO LAUGH AT ME AT THE WRONG TIME?! IT'S NOT FUNNY AND YOU KNOW IT!"

Jim tried his best to comfort Luigi to no avail. "Luigi. Please calm down. It's okay." Mario stood still with astonishment, wondering what's gotten into Luigi.

"YOU KNOW WHAT?!" Luigi yelled. "I'M DONE WITH YOU, MARIO! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" Mario's astonishment turned to shock. "IN FACT, I WISH I HAD A DIFFERENT BROTHER THAN YOU!"

Luigi began running away to the northwest, crying with anger. His second insult spooked Mario, who backed up a couple steps. Mario slowly laid his hand on his heart; he felt like someone threw a stone at it and broke it into small pieces.

"Luigi! Wait! Come back! Where are you going?!" Jim called to Luigi. He started running after Luigi but stopped for a brief second to glance at Mario with a disappointed look on his face. He then resumed chasing Luigi. Mario's breath shallowed slowly, and tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"W-What have I-I d-done...?" Mario gasped. It was at that point that he knew he pushed Luigi to his breaking point over the course of the whole adventure; he didn't help Luigi with his fear of ghosts, he didn't let him get recognized for saving Yoshi's friends, and above all, he laughed at someone who could've gotten killed while standing next to an imploding castle: his own brother.

Within a few seconds, Mario lost it completely, dropping to the ground and crying his eyes out harder than he had ever cried in his entire life. All the Yoshis gazed at the depressed plumber with concern and looked up at Jim and Luigi, who already had passed the treeline in the distance. Yoshi walked up to Mario and knelt next to him.

"Oh man... I can't believe that just happened..." Yoshi said in a quiet voice. Mario tried to say something, but he couldn't let out a word because of his intense sobbing.

"Mario. Breathe. Slow it down," Yoshi whispered to Mario. But he didn't respond; he was hyperventilating between each cry. It was clear that the last thing that Mario would want to hear was Luigi apparently disowning him.

After about two minutes, Mario's breathing slowed down, but he was still crying. He got up on his feet and began to walk south with his head hung towards the ground. All the Yoshis murmured to each other, wondering what's going to happen next. Yoshi ran past the Yoshis and stopped just in front of them.

"Mario! What are you doing?!" Yoshi called to Mario.

"I-I'm g-goi-ing h-home..." Mario sobbed. "I-I'm d-do-one..." Yoshi was startled at Mario giving up on saving Princess Peach. He couldn't understand the fact that Mario had come all this way around Dinosaur Land to save Peach, only to walk away all because of Luigi insulting him.

"Mario! Please! Get back here!" Yoshi yelled. Mario didn't listen, though. He kept walking and ignored Yoshi's pleas. That made Yoshi reach the end of his rope; he needed to knock some sense into Mario before it's too late.

"STOP!" Yoshi screamed at the top of his lungs. Mario immediately stopped walking, having finally heard Yoshi's voice. He turned to see Yoshi sprint towards him. His face is wet from all the tears he cried.

"W-what i-is it...?" Mario mumbled.

"WHAT IS IT?!" Yoshi exclaimed with fury. "YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO ME NOW! WHAT IS EVEN GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND?! AFTER TWO DAYS OF WALKING AROUND THIS EQUATORIAL ISLAND ON A QUEST TO SAVE PRINCESS PEACH, YOU GIVE UP JUST BECAUSE OF AN INSULT?!"

"But it-" Mario started.

"DON'T 'BUT' ME, MARIO! USE YOUR HEAD FOR ONCE!" Yoshi interrupted. Unbeknownst to Yoshi and Mario, Red Yoshi took off after Jim and Luigi.

"THINK OF WHAT PRINCESS PEACH IS GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW! SHE'S TRAPPED IN BOWSER'S HIDEOUT AND CAN'T GET OUT OF IT ON HER OWN!" Yoshi fumed. "AND WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IF NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!"

Yoshi instantly went into a coughing fit because he had lost his voice from all the screaming. He decided to take it down a notch in order to not hurt his vocal cords even more. After taking a minute to calm down, Yoshi resumed his talk to Mario.

"Look, you need to rethink this," Yoshi said with a scratchy voice. "Remember what you told me before we fought Iggy's minions? When you got off the airplane and learned that Bowser kidnapped Princess Peach, you said to Jim and Luigi, 'If we do nothing, Princess Peach is gonna become Bowser's slave.' Do you really want to let that happen?"

"No..." Mario replied silently. By now, Mario had calmed down a bit and was no longer crying.

"Good. Because I don't want to see that either," Yoshi coughed. "Even Luigi and Jim don't want to see Bowser pushing Princess Peach around, telling her what to do and all that."

"Okay..." Mario responded.

"Mario, please hear me out," Yoshi continued. "You're not just Mario. You're SUPER Mario. Well, not really a superhero; you're more of a superhuman. You have amazing jumping abilities. You have incredible strength. You have immense courage. But most of all, you should have the determination to bring back a princess to her kingdom. You've done that once before and I believe you can do that again."

"You're right. I can do it again," Mario responded.

"There we go. That's the spirit," Yoshi beamed. "You know that Princess Peach is counting on your help, right?"

"That's true," Mario replied.

"So, what do you say we go and show Bowser what we've got?" Yoshi asked.

"We sure will," Mario answered.

Before both could go anywhere, Yoshi remembered the sign that showed them to Wendy's Castle. "I just thought of something: you know that sign we passed by before we got to the castle?"

"Yeah. What about it?" Mario asked.

"I think we should go to the bay and swim through it to find Bowser's hideout." Without further ado, Yoshi and Mario headed to the bayshore before they began to swim up north.


	22. 8A - You Are Not Alone

_**Chapter 8**_

**8A - You Are Not Alone**

It is 10:10 AM; two minutes after Mario and Yoshi began swimming through the bay to find Bowser's hideout, assuming it was underwater. For the last five minutes, Luigi sat alone on a riverbank far from where Wendy's Castle used to be. Just earlier, he rinsed his face from the soot that covered him during the castle's implosion.

"Why? Why me?" Luigi mumbled to himself while looking at his reflection in the water. "Why do they have to make me a laughingstock? This doesn't make sense..." Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Luigi?" Luigi turned to see Jim standing to his back-left.

"Oh. Hi, Jim," Luigi greeted Jim. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you. You know, see how you're doing," Jim replied.

"I'm not feeling myself right now, obviously."

"I know. It's so sad." Jim walked closer to the riverbank. "May I sit with you?" Jim asked.

"Sure," Luigi responded as Jim sat to Luigi's left-hand side.

"You don't actually hate Mario, do you?" Jim asked.

"No. I wish I shouldn't have said that," Luigi replied. "While I was running away after being laughed at, I instantly regretted insulting Mario and I wanted to turn around and apologize to him, but I couldn't stop running. I just kept going and going until I stopped here."

"I understand. You say some things that hurt others' feelings, but you're not thinking right at that time. Happens with almost everyone," Jim explained.

"Yeah," Luigi said with a sigh. "Maybe it was a stupid decision to listen to Mario. I could've prevented myself from-" Luigi started to say, but Jim interrupted him.

"No, it wasn't. It's just that no one knew what was gonna happen until the last second."

"Okay," Luigi responded.

"You know, I can't help but feel sorry for you, Luigi," Jim said. "I didn't think Mario and the Yoshis would laugh at you after the explosion."

"Me neither. I thought Mario would ask me if I was okay, but no," Luigi agreed. Just then, a lightbulb went off in Jim's head.

"You know what? This actually reminds me of a past childhood memory."

"What was it about?" Luigi asked.

"I'll tell you right now. It was back when I was five years old. Like all the kindergartners at my school, I was energetic and playful. But on that day, I kind of took it too far. So, three of my friends and I went to this local park a couple minutes from my house. The playground there had everything such as a swing set, some slides, monkey bars, and a playhouse on the very top. Every now and then, one of my friends named Frank dared us a challenge to see who's the best kid at the park."

"Was Frank always the best kid?" Luigi asked.

"From what my friends told me, yes," Jim replied. "The challenge of that day was to swing as high as possible and jump out the farthest. Frank was the first one, as always. He jumped pretty far out. My other two friends, Dom and Greg, didn't do as good as Frank did, but at least they tried. I was the youngest by a couple months, so I was supposed to go last; we went in the order of our birthdays from oldest to youngest."

"So, I got on the swing, wanting to become the newest best kid at the park. I pushed myself to swing really high, and everyone was surprised at how high I went; I could literally see the playhouse on my left without having to look up at it. But what happened next would change everything. As soon as I was above my friends' heads, I jumped, but I didn't go forward that much. I simply flew up a little bit. I landed just short of the grass and my left foot was pointed at the ground more than my right."

"Did you break your foot?" Luigi asked.

"I'm getting there," Jim responded. "My toes hit the ground first and I heard the bones on the top of my foot loudly crack. You wouldn't want to know what it looked like, but it was pretty bad. Because Frank and Greg didn't see my broken foot, which laid under my right leg, they laughed at me because I was crying so hard. They were like, 'Oh, what's the matter, Jimmy-baby? Did you hurt yourself? Go cry for your mommy! Hahaha!'"

"Oh, that's so mean..." Luigi said with sympathy.

"I know it is," Jim agreed. "Dom barely saw my broken foot stick out from under my leg and ran up to me to see what happened. He almost got sick from looking at it and tried to tell Frank and Greg to stop laughing, but it didn't work. Dom told me, 'Stay here, Jim. I'll go get your mom.', and quickly ran to tell her what I did; Frank and Greg ran back to their homes at the same time."

"Mom got so scared that she immediately called the ambulance, which came to pick me up a few minutes later. At the hospital, the doctors put me to sleep and fixed the bones in my foot after they washed it up. My foot was in a cast for one and a half months to let it heal. After finding out that I was in the hospital, Frank and Greg's parents punished them for laughing at me and made them write me an apology letter."

"Did they learn their lesson?" Luigi asked.

"Yes, they did," Jim replied. "Frank promised after I got back home that he wouldn't do any more park challenges."

"Wow. I guess your story is just as worse as mine is," Luigi remarked.

"Not really," Jim answered. "Well, I did break my foot at the park, but you standing next to an exploding castle sounds more dangerous than you think."

Luigi took a few seconds to take in what Jim told him. "You're right... It WAS more dangerous..." Jim saw Luigi hang his head over the water.

"You okay?" Jim asked.

But Luigi didn't answer Jim's concern. He began to look back at the castle implosion and everyone laughing at him before imagining what Jim went through and compared the two together. He also revisited his past humiliations at the same time. These inside visions messed with his brain so much that he placed his hands on his head in anxiety.

"Oh my gosh!" Jim exclaimed while he saw Luigi getting stressed out. "What is going on?" Finally, Luigi's stress level reached its max, causing him to scream briefly and start breaking down.

"Geez. I've never seen Luigi this upset before," Jim said to himself as he put his hand on Luigi's shoulder again. He barely heard Luigi mumble something to himself.

"What was that?" Jim asked.

"E-Everyone's against m-me..." Luigi cried.

"You can't say that," Jim responded. "That's so silly."

"No, i-it i-isn't..." Luigi murmured. "I don't kn-know what e-else to s-say..."

"I understand," Jim replied as Luigi wiped his tears from his face. "Can I say something?"

"Okay..." Luigi looked at Jim again.

"No one is against you. Well, Bowser and his minions ARE against all of us, but not the good guys. They would never laugh at someone because they hate him and want to see him get hurt. Believe me: Mario and the Yoshis probably didn't do it on purpose. Maybe they just couldn't help but laugh."

"Does that mean-" Luigi started to question.

"Of course. Mario loves you no matter what. He's not your enemy. None of the Yoshis dislike you. And you know what else?"

"What?"

"All the kids from my world admire you and Mario. They've played your video games for the last few years and they loved them. They would say what I told you if they got the chance to meet you and Mario." Luigi slowly teared up again, but this time, he was feeling happy.

"And going back to when I said how great you did when we battled Wendy, it made me reconsider how I felt about you. Back then, I thought Mario was the star of the show and you were halfway in front of the curtains. That was until you proved to me that you were just as equal as Mario is," Jim continued.

"Th-thank y-you..." Luigi stuttered.

"Like I said, not one good guy is against you," Jim reassured Luigi. "They either love you as a friend or as a relative. And I'm one of those people. You are an amazing hero, Luigi. And above all that, you are NEVER alone. Everyone loves you." After Jim finished his last sentence, Luigi got so emotionally happy that he hugged Jim tight.

"It's okay. Nothing's that bad," Jim said softly.

"I... I've n-never had a t-true fr-friend in m-my life..." Luigi wept.

"That's why I'm here, Luigi," Jim replied. "If you're upset about something and you can't deal with it, I'll help you."

After letting go of Luigi, Jim asked, "You need a few more minutes?"

"Y-yeah..." Luigi responded.

"All right. I'm gonna go back to where the castle was." Jim got up and began to walk away. "See you."

After about a minute, Jim saw Red Yoshi walking in the opposite direction and approached her. "Hi, Red Yoshi."

"Where's Luigi?" Red Yoshi asked.

"He's sitting on the riverbank over there," Jim said, pointing to where Luigi is sitting. Red Yoshi immediately walked up to him.

"Luigi?" Luigi turned to see Red Yoshi.

"Hey."

"Are you okay?" Red Yoshi questioned.

"I am now," Luigi answered; he's no longer crying. "What is it?"

"Mario and Yoshi went off by themselves to save Princess Peach."

"Okay... What are you talking about?"

"We need to hurry and save them. They can't defeat Bowser by themselves." Luigi stood back up without hesitation.

"Of course, they can't. You are so right," he replied.

"Yes, I am."

While Red Yoshi talked with Luigi, Jim walked back to the riverbank. "We can't just save Mario and Yoshi. We need to save Princess Peach too. That's why we're out and about," Jim said.

"Exactly," Luigi agreed.

"All right. What's our plan right now?" Red Yoshi asked.

Jim turned to his right and saw a ship's mast barely stick up from above the horizon. "You see that over there?" Luigi and Red Yoshi also turned towards the mast.

"I do. Is that, like, a ship or something?" Red Yoshi asked.

"I think so," Jim replied. "If I remember correctly, back when we were inside this mountain at Donut Plains, this one Koopa with his wizard said something about a pirate ship."

"And could that be Bowser's hideout?" Luigi questioned.

"The only way to find out is to see for ourselves," Jim said as all three of them stared at the mast for a moment.


	23. 8B - Bowser's Sunken Ship

**8B - Bowser's Sunken Ship**

It's now 10:20 AM. Bowser had just found out that Wendy O. Koopa and her fellow Koopalings were defeated in addition to her castle being destroyed.

"This is unbelievable!" Bowser yelled with anger. "I've tried everything to take down Mario and his friends, but they just won't stop! What's gotten into my minions lately?!"

Having overheard Bowser scream from across the giant main room, Princess Peach called out, "That's right, Bowser! There's no doubt that Mario will be here soon!"

"Quiet, Princess Peach!" Bowser exclaimed. "This doesn't concern you!"

"Yes, it does!" Peach retorted as Bowser approached her suspended cage. "You might as well quiet down and watch Mario do his job!"

"Excuse me?" Bowser questioned with surprise; he couldn't believe Peach backfired his argument. "No one tells the Koopa King to quiet down!"

"Well, you just got told off by a helpless princess!" Peach returned. Bowser let out an angry sigh.

"Oh, Princess Peach..." Bowser grumbled. "How I would love to strand you on an island right now..." Peach giggled at Bowser's self-complaint.

"You know what? The only thing I like about you is your funny temper tantrums," Peach said.

"Enough of that," Bowser silently grouched. He proceeded to walk away from Peach's cage.

"This is gonna be exciting for me to watch Mario versus Bowser before my eyes. I can't wait," Peach boasted.

* * *

Fast forwarding about two hours later to 12:17 PM, Mario and Yoshi were still swimming north up the bay.

"My arms are getting tired," Yoshi said.

"Just a little longer, Yoshi," Mario assured Yoshi.

"I'm actually glad there was a sandbar back behind us. I so needed that break," Yoshi pointed out. After three more minutes, Mario and Yoshi finally arrived at what might be the entrance to Bowser's hideout: an aboveground sunken ship. They climbed out of the water and walked around the bottom of the ship.

"I've never seen a ship like this in real life," Yoshi said. After reaching the starboard side, Mario saw a name engraved in the wood: "SS _Koopa_".

"Hold on. Is this the pirate ship that Hip mentioned yesterday?" Mario asked.

"It looks like it to me," Yoshi answered. "I've heard that pirate ships get wrecked pretty bad during a huge storm."

"I'm gonna see what's up there before we climb aboard," Mario explained. He started to climb up the side of the ship and lifted his head slowly to see the deck. There were two Dry Bones guards walking back and forth.

After dropping back down, Mario told Yoshi in a quiet tone of voice, "There's two skeletons up there, so we need to be very quiet,"

"Okay."

"If they manage to catch us while we're sneaking, we're dead." Yoshi turned to face the ship.

"Can you lift me up?" Yoshi whispered.

"Sure." Mario held out his hands to let Yoshi stand on them. He then slowly lifted Yoshi towards the railing. After Yoshi grabbed the railing, Mario scaled the side again. "Go up slowly."

Both peeked their heads up and made sure the Dry Bones' had their backs turned. Mario slowly climbed over the railing and set himself on the deck. Seconds later, Yoshi began to lift himself upwards. However, after he went over the railing, Yoshi accidentally stepped on a loose wood plank that made a loud creaking noise.

"What was that over there?!" one of the Dry Bones guards bellowed.

"Oops," Yoshi uttered to himself.

"Yoshi!" Mario scolded Yoshi. "You had one job to do! You were supposed to keep quiet and you just blew our cover!"

"Sorry. I didn't know the wood-" Yoshi started to explain.

"Well, 'Sorry.' isn't gonna make those skeletons leave us alone!" The two Dry Bones' steadily approached Mario and Yoshi.

"Look, we can talk about this," Mario said to the Dry Bones'. "We were just exploring this ship because we thought it was cool and all."

"We didn't do-" Just as Yoshi tried to chime in, both Dry Bones' picked up Mario and Yoshi.

"What are you doing?! Put us down!" Mario exclaimed.

"We don't allow trespassers on King Bowser's ship!" the second Dry Bones guard proclaimed.

"We're not trespassers!" Yoshi argued.

"If you're not associated with King Bowser, you are!" the first Dry Bones said. The guards carried Mario and Yoshi towards the ship's bow.

"Where are you taking us?" "Are you gonna throw us into the water?" Mario and Yoshi questioned. But the guards didn't answer.

"I...can't...pull his hands...off!" Mario winced as he tried to break free of one of the guards' grasp. Eventually, they stopped at a big floor door at the very end.

"What is that door?" Mario asked.

"Don't worry about it," the first Dry Bones said. The second Dry Bones inserted his foot in the handle and lifted it up, revealing a bottomless pit. Mario and Yoshi immediately became frightened.

"No! No! You won't do it!" Mario cried.

"You deserve what you get!" the second Dry Bones announced.

"Please! Don't throw us down there!" "We'll do anything!" Yoshi and Mario begged respectively. Yoshi also tried to pry the second guard's hands off him to no avail.

"Just let us down! You don't know what you're doing!" Yoshi pleaded while Mario kept shouting "No!" over and over again with fear. Without further ado, the Dry Bones guards threw Mario and Yoshi down the pit.

"JIM! LUIGI! HELP US!" Mario screamed.

"WE'RE DOOMED!" Yoshi yelled. Both fell into the blackness, not knowing where they would land.


	24. 8C - Enter the Koopa King

**8C - Enter the Koopa King**

"Oh, mamma mia... Not my head again..." Mario slowly opened his eyes and placed his hand on his head, which he landed on after he and Yoshi were thrown down the deep hole within the SS _Koopa_.Mario slowly picked himself off the floor and gazed at his surroundings.

"Where on Earth am I...?" Suddenly, he saw a hole in the ceiling with a small beam of light shining in from above. He walked under the hole and looked way up to see that the deck door was still open.

"That was deeper than I thought," Mario said to himself.

Knowing that Yoshi must have landed nearby, Mario looked around the giant room again, but didn't see him anywhere. Just when Mario was about to start walking around to find Yoshi, he barely saw him lying on his back in the darkness.

"YOSHI!" Mario exclaimed as he ran up to Yoshi.

"Mario...?" Yoshi mumbled. "Is that you...?"

"Yes, it's-a me," Mario replied. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Kind of. I tried landing on my feet, but I fell over and I didn't wake up for however long we were out," Yoshi explained as he stood up.

"Well, the good news is we're okay," Mario reassured Yoshi.

"How far down are we?" Yoshi asked.

"I don't know. But I have a feeling-" Mario started to answer.

"MARIO!" a familiar voice yelled in the distance.

"Is that Princess Peach?" Yoshi asked.

"It sounds like her," Mario replied. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "PRINCESS PEACH! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'm over here!" Peach called. Mario and Yoshi rushed over to where Peach's voice was coming from. They stopped next to the cage she's trapped in.

"Oh, thank goodness you two came for me!" Peach said.

"How did Bowser lock you in that cage?" Mario asked.

"Good question. All I remember is being put to sleep before I woke up in here," Peach responded.

"Is Bowser around?" Yoshi questioned.

"Probably. Last time I saw him, he was-" Peach began to explain. Suddenly, eight fireballs slowly rained from the ceiling and formed a circle around Mario and Yoshi.

"Oh no. He's coming," Peach murmured. In the distance, Bowser let out an evil laugh that echoed all around. Within several seconds, Bowser flew in on his Koopa Clown Car and stopped in front of Mario and Yoshi.

"Well, what a pleasant pleasure to see you, Mario," Bowser greeted Mario sarcastically. "You finally found my hideout. Congratulations."

"Congrats, indeed. What a lovely game of hide-and-seek," Mario quipped.

"Oh yeah? Well, if it were lovely, I would have forced Princess Peach to marry me by now," Bowser returned.

"Really? Why do you have to go there?" Peach asked Bowser.

"Because I felt like it. You ARE pretty-looking, after all," Bowser answered.

"Cut it out, guys!" Yoshi interrupted with annoyance. "We didn't come here to poke fun at each other!"

"Oh right," Bowser answered. "You came here because you want to take Princess Peach away from me. But I'm not gonna make it easy for you this time, paisano. I've changed over the last five years."

"No, you haven't," Yoshi protested. "You're the same coward you were when you first fought Mario."

"Oh, I'm a coward?" Bowser said with sarcasm. "Look who's talking!"

"All right-y. Then tell me, Bowser," Mario requested. "How have you changed?"

"You'll see," Bowser replied. With a snap of his fingers, six Keronpa Balls rose out of the floor and formed a giant square around Mario and Yoshi. Then, a ceiling cannon extended from above; Bowser designed it to dispense Bob-ombs, which chase their opponents before exploding within five seconds. Finally, three wooden doors on the far right of the hideout opened and three long lines of Mechakoopas marched towards Mario and Yoshi.

"Remember when I was by myself, throwing hammers and breathing fire?" Bowser stated. "Not this time. I'm gonna make this second attempt a charm." Mario slowly reached for his Super Mushroom and Fire Flower in his overall pockets.

"I don't care if you have any powerups," Bowser continued, having seen Mario move his hands towards his pockets. "They're not going to weaken me."

Bowser turned to the Mechakoopa horde. "Now, Mechakoopa army! ATTACK!" Right on cue, all the Mechakoopas upped their speed and scuttled towards Mario and Yoshi, the Bob-omb cannon started up, and the Keronpa Balls began spitting fire.

"Be careful, Mario!" Peach said.

Before he began to battle Bowser, Mario told himself, "I should save my powerups in case I really need them."

He pulled his hands out of his overall pockets and jumped up to catch one of the Bob-ombs. He proceeded to throw it at the Mechakoopa army, blowing some of them towards the wall. Having detected the attack, the Mechakoopas scuttled even faster and started to chomp their jaws rapidly. Yoshi tried to eat a flame spat by one of the Keronpa Balls but threw it up in pain because it burnt his tongue more than the hottest chili peppers he ate in the past. Because of that, Yoshi was unable to use his tongue properly for the time being even though he could still speak.

Meanwhile, Mario stomped on two of the Mechakoopas and prepared to throw them at Bowser's Koopa Clown Car, but another Mechakoopa bit Mario's left arm, causing him to fall over; this is because he was leaning down at that moment.

Yoshi saw Mario being trampled by the Mechakoopas and yelled, "Mario! Get up!" He immediately ran towards the Mechakoopas to pull them off Mario, but they bit his legs before he could even jump over them.

"Ow! My legs!" "Get off me!" Mario and Yoshi cried.

"Bwahahahaha!" Bowser laughed. "I told you I've changed!"

"Leave them alone!" Peach shouted.

"What did I tell you, Princess Peach?" Bowser chided. "Stay out of it!"

"No, I won't!" Peach retorted. Bowser turned back to the Mechakoopas, who continued to run over Mario and Yoshi.


	25. 9A - This is No Ordinary Elevator

_**Chapter 9**_

**9A - This is No Ordinary Elevator**

"How long have we been swimming for?" Jim asked Red Yoshi. "I didn't even check my watch before we started."

"You tell me; I have no clue," Red Yoshi replied. She, Jim, and Luigi were standing on the sandbar that was located just south of the SS _Koopa_. They had been swimming for one hour and 45 minutes including several short breaks taken in between.

"I'm ready when you guys are," Luigi said after about four minutes.

Without hesitation, Jim said, "All right. Let's keep going." The three of them pressed onwards for another 19 minutes before they reached the ship. The time is now 12:35 PM.

"Man, this ship is huge," Red Yoshi remarked.

"Did you think it was as big as a regular sailboat?" Jim asked.

"I guess so." While Red Yoshi and Jim talked with each other, Luigi clambered up the side of the ship and witnessed the two Dry Bones guards for a couple seconds before jumping back down.

"I just saw two skeletons up there," Luigi explained quietly. "We can't let them see us, so we need to keep our voices down."

"Okay," Red Yoshi and Jim responded.

"Usually, I'd go first, but I'll let you lead us this time," Red Yoshi told Jim.

"Thanks."

Luigi lifted Jim to the railing near the deck; Jim slowly climbed onboard. He then ran and hid behind the main mast in the middle. Seconds later, Luigi and Red Yoshi boarded the ship and hid behind the mast too.

"I have an idea," Jim whispered. "We need to distract those skeletons before we can explore the rest of the ship."

"How exactly?" Luigi asked.

"I'm thinking," Jim responded. He thought it over for about a minute before setting in stone his idea. "Red Yoshi, you make the distraction. We'll back you up just in case," Jim said to Red Yoshi.

"Thanks, Jim," she replied.

Red Yoshi slowly tiptoed towards the bow while looking down at the wooden floor to stay away from any loose boards that might get their attention if stepped on.

She stopped within six feet of the Dry Bones' and exclaimed in a pirate accent, "Ahoy, mateys! Do you mind if I be yer cabin girl?" The Dry Bones' turned to Red Yoshi.

"Who even are you?" the first guard asked.

"What does it look like?" Red Yoshi responded. The guards looked at her for a few seconds.

"You're one of the dinosaurs King Bowser held captive!" the second guard said.

"Arrgh! No, I'm not!" Red Yoshi lied. "I'm a newly-recruited pirate!"

"Newly-recruited pirate?" the first guard questioned. "More like a newly-recruited trespasser!"

Having heard Red Yoshi's pirate imitation, Luigi said, "Wow. She's good at acting like a pirate."

"I know, right?" Jim acknowledged.

Meanwhile, the Dry Bones guards started to charge Red Yoshi with the intention of throwing her down the deep hole to Bowser's hideout.

"Aye! You asked for it!" Red Yoshi declared. She rapidly ate each of the Dry Bones' and sealed them in two red-spotted white eggs.

"I may have no sword or pistol, but at least I have a weapon of some sort!" Red Yoshi continued in her accent. She immediately tossed both eggs into the water, and because the Dry Bones' weighed more than the Yoshis, their eggs sunk all the way to the bottom.

"Okay! Coast is clear!" Red Yoshi called to Jim and Luigi, reverting to her normal voice. Both walked up to Red Yoshi.

"That was a better distraction than I thought," Luigi said. "Brilliant job."

"Thanks," Red Yoshi replied. "All we have to do now is see where the entrance to the hideout is."

"How about we split up again?" Jim offered.

"Okey-dokey," Luigi responded. Before the three of them went their own ways, Red Yoshi saw the open deck door to her left.

She approached the hole and looked down before Luigi did the same. "There's no way we're falling through this."

"Yup. That's a no-go," Luigi agreed as he went and closed the deck door. Unbeknownst to both, Jim had already walked away. Luigi turned to see Jim walk towards the quarter deck.

Before he could call out to Jim to see where he's going, Red Yoshi said, "Let him search on his own. He knows what he's doing."

On the front end of the quarter deck was a sliding door. Jim pushed it open to reveal an old-fashioned elevator complete with a lever that can be moved up or down to reach the top or bottom of the shaft respectively. However, there was a metal grate that blocked the entrance.

Jim turned to Luigi and Red Yoshi and shouted, "Guys! I found an elevator!" Almost immediately, both ran up to the elevator entrance.

"Good finding, buddy," Luigi complimented Jim. Red Yoshi lifted the grate and went in before beckoning Jim and Luigi to follow her.

Jim approached the lever and asked, "How fast does this thing go?"

"I can't answer that," Luigi replied. "The lever will answer your question."

"All right. Going down," Jim said. He pushed the lever down to start the descent, but the elevator didn't move at all.

"Oh great. Here we go again with the broken switches," Luigi sighed.

"Don't act like the elevator's not working," Jim told Luigi. "I know what's gonna happen in, like, ten-"

Suddenly, the elevator started plummeting downwards real fast. What the group didn't know was that the elevator was connected to a rope on a pulley that released if the lever was pushed down and rapidly pulled it back to the top if the lever was pushed up. Because the elevator was in free-fall, Luigi, Jim, and Red Yoshi were floating all around.

"I KNEW IT!" Jim yelled. "THIS IS JUST LIKE THE CASTLE EXPLOSION!"

"YEAH! THANKS FOR THE HINT!" Luigi answered sarcastically.

"WHAT KIND OF ELEVATOR IS THIS?!" Red Yoshi cried.

"THIS IS NO ELEVATOR!" Luigi exclaimed. "THIS IS A TRAP!"


	26. 9B - The Final Battle

**9B - The Final Battle**

"Come on, Mario... Get back up..." Mario urged himself. At this point, he and Yoshi were crumpled on the floor having been ran over by Bowser's Mechakoopa army, which rapidly roamed the entire hideout in a large mass. Since his left arm was a bit sore from being bitten by one of the Mechakoopas, he pushed his right arm towards the ground and tried his hardest to stand back up.

Yoshi, however, found it difficult to move his legs because they were bitten and had bruises on them. Several seconds later, Mario managed to stand back up and went towards Yoshi.

"Don't move, Yoshi. I'm coming," Mario said. Having heard Mario's voice, Yoshi stretched his hand out for Mario to pull him up.

"Can you walk okay?" Mario asked.

"I think so," Yoshi answered. "My tongue hurts, though." He pointed to one of the Keronpa Balls. "I tried eating one of those fireballs from that black sphere, but it burned my tongue. I can still speak, but I can't eat anything right now."

"Okey-dokey. Just sit tight for a couple minutes. I'll take care of those robots," Mario said as he ran towards the Mechakoopas. Meanwhile, Bowser was distracted by closing the doors to the Mechakoopas' cages and checking on the Bob-omb cannon and Keronpa Balls.

After flying back up to just below the ceiling and ten feet away from Peach's cage, he saw Mario running again. Bowser didn't say anything because he's so angry that Mario and Yoshi were in good shape even after being ran over. All he could do was let out a frustrated sigh.

"I can't give up yet," Bowser said to himself. "I have to try harder." He turned back to the Mechakoopa army and shouted, "MECHAKOOPA ARMY! MAX ATTACK POWER AND SPEED!" On command, the Mechakoopas turned their running speed to 100% and chomped their mouths as fast as they could.

The Keronpa Balls also began spitting fire at a quick pace. Again, Mario leaped over the Mechakoopas, but began flipping in mid-air to avoid being bitten again. He stomped on three of them and found an open spot to land on.

With a few seconds to make his next move, Mario quickly threw the disabled Mechakoopas at Bowser, but they barely missed his Koopa Clown Car. Bowser turned to see Mario throwing the Mechakoopas.

"Hey! Those aren't gonna hit me!" he declared. "Your throwing power is too weak! Gwahaha!" At the same time Mario leaped over the Mechakoopa army, Yoshi decided to resume fighting Bowser. He ran under the Bob-omb cannon, which began dropping the Bob-ombs to the ground.

"Ow... It hurts..." Yoshi winced in pain while running, but pushed himself to keep going. He picked up two Bob-ombs and immediately threw them at the Mechakoopa army before they exploded. The Bob-ombs landed near the front of the squad, blowing them in random directions. Since the Mechakoopas were giving it their all, Bowser couldn't tell them to go faster and could only sit back and watch Mario and Yoshi fend off the Mechakoopas.

The Keronpa Balls' fireballs flew towards Mario, who continued stomping on the Mechakoopas and throwing them at Bowser while Yoshi tossed the Bob-ombs at the squad. Having seen the fireballs from behind his back, Mario was able dodge them and allow the fireballs to burn some of the Mechakoopas to ashes.

* * *

Meanwhile, the SS _Koopa_'s so-called elevator continued to hurtle toward the bottom of the shaft.

"How deep is this place?!" Jim exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Luigi replied. "Maybe Bowser decided to build his hideout way underground so no one can find him!"

"Good for him! I guess Bowser IS a smart Koopa after all!" Jim said.

"Guys, you might want to brace yourselves! It's gonna be-" Red Yoshi began to warn Luigi and Jim. Suddenly, the elevator hit the ground really hard, causing the three of them to fall all over the floor. After about three seconds, they stood back up.

"You guys okay?" Luigi asked.

"We're good," Jim and Red Yoshi responded. Red Yoshi approached the metal grate and raised it up before pushing open the sliding door. The group walked out of the elevator and made a left down the hallway leading to the hideout's large room.

They stopped at the break room's entrance, which was hidden in the shadows. It was at that point that Yoshi threw the two Bob-ombs at the Mechakoopa army; the ones in front were knocked toward the break room, prompting Red Yoshi, Jim, and Luigi to run out of the way.

"I got this," Luigi whispered as he picked up one of the disabled Mechakoopas. "You follow behind me slowly." Jim and Red Yoshi steadily walked behind Luigi toward the middle of the room.

* * *

In the meantime, Bowser saw his own Mechakoopas falling short of his Koopa Clown Car and moved towards the right a few feet before announcing, "Keronpa Balls, activate fire jets!" Right on cue, the Keronpa Balls began shooting long streams of fire that spanned at least twelve feet and moved in a semicircle. The Bob-omb cannon also aimed at Mario and shot its Bob-ombs towards him.

It didn't matter how many times Mario dodged the Bob-ombs; the cannon followed him as he ran away from the Mechakoopas. At this point, about half the squad were still standing. Yoshi stopped throwing the Bob-ombs that landed near him and rushed to help Mario.

"All right. My turn now," Bowser told himself. Just as he was about to zoom towards Mario and Yoshi, one of his Mechakoopas hit him in the head, causing him to spin out of control for a moment.

"What just hit me?" Bowser asked as he laid his hand on his head.

"Leave Mario and Yoshi alone!" a distant voice called out. Bowser turned to see Luigi standing before him.

"What do you think you're doing, Luigi?!" Bowser demanded. Mario quickly turned to see Luigi.

"Bro! You're here!" He ran up to Luigi with Yoshi following right behind.

"I should've known you were gonna help your brother out," Bowser said to Luigi.

"What about me?" Red Yoshi shouted as she caught up with the Mario Brothers and Yoshi.

"Another Yoshi?!" Bowser questioned. "How big of a team do you have?!"

"It's VERY big!" Jim exclaimed, having met up with the rest of the group.

"Wh-What is...? W-Why is th-there a k-kid..." Bowser stuttered in disbelief.

"Because we need more help!" Mario answered.

"It's not fair! Why five against one?!" Bowser complained as the Mechakoopa army charged towards the group.

"Quit complaining and fight us!" Mario ordered.

"Okay! Fine!" Bowser roared. He proceeded to breath fire at the group, who ran out of the way. Mario took his Fire Flower out of his pocket.

"Luigi! Take this!"

He threw the Fire Flower to Luigi, who crushed it in his hand. As a result, his hat and shirt turned white while his overalls turned green.

"Let's see if fighting fire with fire will work," Luigi said to himself. He focused on the Keronpa Balls shooting their fire jets and threw green fireballs at them; the Keronpa Balls exploded upon contact with the fireballs.

Meanwhile, Mario resumed stomping on the Mechakoopas while Yoshi caught the Bob-ombs shot by the cannon to throw at the Mechakoopas. Jim and Red Yoshi waited until the army was gone before they started to help the Mario Brothers and Yoshi.

At this point, all the Mechakoopas were either disabled or blown to pieces. Bowser stopped breathing fire upon seeing the Mechakoopas scattered all over the floor.

"This cannot be happening!" Bowser yelled. He proceeded to push a button on the rim of his Koopa Clown Car, which opened its mouth and started shooting Bullet Bills that homed in on the group. Everyone had to deal with flying Bob-ombs and Bullet Bills all while Bowser breathed fire at them.

"Start throwing all those robots!" Mario proclaimed. Jim and the Yoshis hurried to the Mechakoopas and began throwing them at the Koopa Clown Car. Most of the Mechakoopas were destroyed by the Bullet Bills while others fell short of the Koopa Clown Car; that was because Bowser flew away to avoid the Mechakoopas.

At the same time, Luigi threw his fireballs at the Bob-ombs to blow them up immediately.

He then called to Peach, "Princess Peach, I'm gonna hop on your cage to break that cannon! Hold on!"

"Okay!"

Luigi leaped onto the cage, causing it to rock back and forth, and jumped at the cannon before double-fist punching it with all his strength. That caused the cannon to break in half and fall to the ground.

In the meantime, Mario, Jim, and the Yoshis continued dodging the Bullet Bills and lunging towards the Mechakoopas to toss them at Bowser.

"There's only ten left! Make it count!" Yoshi told everyone. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Mario's head. He still had the Super Mushroom in his pocket and decided to use it to increase his throwing power. He stood next to one of the Mechakoopas and began to take the Super Mushroom out.

At the same time, however, Luigi prepared to throw his Mechakoopa at the Koopa Clown Car. Bowser acted fast and shot his fire breath at Luigi, who dodged right and accidentally threw the Mechakoopa toward Mario.

"Mario! Look out!" Luigi warned Mario. But it was too late; the Mechakoopa hit Mario in the chest, causing him to fall backwards and drop the Super Mushroom, which rolled towards Jim. Mario got up quickly and ran to the powerup to retrieve it.

Jim saw the Super Mushroom out of the corner of his eye and ran to get it too. "I got it!" Both lunged for the Super Mushroom, but Jim managed to grab it first.

"Jim! Give it back to me!" Mario pleaded. At the same time, Jim was about to ask himself how to power up until he remembered seeing Mario turn into Caped Mario during the battle against Wendy O. Koopa.

"I can do this!" Jim declared after standing up. He crushed the Super Mushroom in his hand and before he knew it, he grew a foot taller, big muscles formed on his arms and legs, and a white glow surrounded him. Mario couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I thought Jim couldn't use the powerups!" Mario gasped. Luigi and the Yoshis also saw Jim in his Super form and stood in awe.

"What on Earth...?" Yoshi mumbled.

"He's gonna finish him..." Red Yoshi whispered. Bowser also stopped attacking and turned to see Jim.

"No way..." Bowser murmured.

Jim turned to Mario and said, "Let's end this now," His voice was a bit deeper as a result of his Super form.

Mario immediately got up and ran to the last remaining Mechakoopa while Bowser resumed shooting Bullet Bills. He was able to dodge them while throwing the Mechakoopa to Jim.

"Game over, Bowser!" Jim yelled. He proceeded to toss the Mechakoopa at the Koopa Clown Car's propeller, which immediately broke into small pieces since Jim's throw was mightier than everyone else's. The Koopa Clown Car began spinning very fast and flying in random directions. Jim waited until Bowser went under the hole leading to the SS _Koopa_'s deck and leaped underneath the Koopa Clown Car before punching it upwards.

"GAAAAH! FOILED AGAIN!" Bowser screamed as he was launched through the deck door into the sky.

At the same time Bowser disappeared, Jim's Super form wore off and Luigi turned back to his regular self. The Mario Brothers and the Yoshis ran up to Jim.

"He did it!" "All right-y, buddy!" "I can't believe it!" "Oh my goodness!" Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi exclaimed respectively. They grabbed Jim and threw him in the air three times while cheering for him. Peach was also excited at Jim's victory.

"That was incredible!"

"Thanks, guys," Jim said to the Mario Brothers and the Yoshis. "I never thought I'd become Super."

"Well, you did, and we're all proud of you, buddy. Brilliant finish," Mario complimented Jim.

Yoshi turned to the cage and announced, "All right! Let's get her down!" Mario and Luigi made their way to just in front of the cage while Jim and the Yoshis stood by.

"Princess Peach, I'm gonna pull that chain out of the ceiling, so hold on tight. It's a pretty big drop," Luigi instructed Peach. She held onto the bars as tight as she could at the same time Luigi jumped onto the cage.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready," Peach answered. Without further ado, Luigi ripped the chain from the ceiling, causing the cage to drop down. Mario then pushed the bars on Peach's left-hand side outward, bending them in the process. After Luigi got back on the ground, Peach hurried out of the cage.

"Oh, Mario! You're a saint!" she squealed as she kissed Mario's left cheek. He blushed briefly.

"Any time, Princess Peach," Mario said as Peach kissed Luigi, who also blushed.

"You did awesome too, Luigi," Peach thanked Luigi.

"I sure did," Luigi agreed.

"Uh, Princess Peach?" Jim interrupted. "I don't think I've met you yet." Peach turned to Jim and approached him before kneeling in front.

"It's so nice to meet you, Jim," Peach said while shaking Jim's hand. "How can I ever repay you?" Before Jim could answer, Peach kissed the top of his left hand. He had the butterflies-in-stomach feeling for a few seconds.

"Oh my..." Jim said softly as he laid his hand on his heart. "She actually kissed my hand..."

"And I gotta thank you too, Yoshi and Red Yoshi," Peach said to the Yoshis after standing up. "I didn't think you would help defeat Bowser."

Suddenly, while Peach was thanking Jim and the Yoshis, Mario also got the butterflies-in-stomach feeling, except it wasn't the love type. He was starting to feel anxious and briefly saw visions of what happened earlier: him accidentally ignoring Luigi after saving Yoshi's friends, not paying mind to Luigi while exiting the Donut Ghost House, and even him laughing at Luigi after the implosion of Wendy's Castle. Before the visions could increase Mario's stress level, he slapped his cheek to hold his emotions back.

Having heard Mario slap himself, Peach turned to Mario and asked, "You okay, Mario?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Mario lied.

"All right. Are you ready to head back to Yoshi's Island with us?" Peach asked.

"Actually, I need a moment with Jim and Luigi. Can you give me some privacy, please?" Mario requested.

"Sure. We'll be waiting on top," Peach responded.

"But how are we gonna get out of here?" Yoshi questioned. Red Yoshi looked at the hallway near the break room.

"There's an elevator down that hall. Follow me," Red Yoshi replied. She beckoned to Peach and Yoshi before the three of them made their way to the elevator that would take them up to the SS _Koopa_'s deck.


	27. 9C - Mario's Sincere Apology

**9C - Mario's Sincere Apology**

Just as Peach, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi walked out of Bowser's hideout to the elevator; Mario, Luigi, and Jim gathered together because Mario wanted to have an important talk with them.

"So, what do you need to tell us, Mario?" Jim asked. "Is something wrong?" Mario didn't answer; he took a few seconds to think of what to say first.

"Jim... Luigi... I..." Mario hesitated. He felt the anxiety surge through his body again. "Oh, mamma mia... I don't even know where to start... Look, I messed up, okay? Everything that went on during this whole adventure, it's all on me," Mario finally began. "Why, you ask? Because of how I treated you."

"What are you-" Jim started to ask.

"Please, Jim. Don't interrupt me," Mario requested.

"Sorry."

"Anyway, I need to recap on everything before I go further. I don't care if you already gotten past those things; you have to hear me out. Please," Mario said. His voice slowly started to tremble. "I'm gonna start with when we went through the haunted house because we did great up until that point. Luigi, I completely understand that you're terrified of ghosts, and I'm sorry that you threw up all over the floor in the end."

"You didn't have anything to do with that, bro. It's just what happens when I get scared too much," Luigi explained.

"I know, but I wish I could've helped you get over your fear," Mario went on. "I mean, I know Jim did excellent in cheering you up the next morning, but... I just... I wanted to go back to when we left the haunted house and have a one-on-one talk with you..." Mario's emotional level gradually went up, causing him to hesitate more. "I should've...been the b-big brother and helped gi-give you advice... I didn't think...about it...until now..."

"You don't have to worry about it, Mario. Luigi's okay now," Jim reassured Mario.

"But...what if...I sat...with him...?" Mario protested.

"That would've been nice too," Luigi said. "But that's over with."

"No... I can't... I can't help...but rethink it..." Mario disagreed. He slowly began to tear up. "And then...going back...to...after we...saved...Yoshi's friends..." Mario wiped the tears off his face before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I'm crying..."

"You don't have to apologize because you're crying," Jim said. Unfortunately, that caused Mario to feel emotional again.

"But... But...you don't...understand...! All of us...s-saved Yoshi's...friends...b-but I... I was...g-getting all...th-the credit..."

"No, you didn't. The Yoshis-" Luigi started to reply.

"NO! JUST STOP! PLEASE!" Mario yelled, causing Luigi to stop talking. "DON'T BUTT IN! LET ME SPEAK!" Mario let himself calm down a tad bit for another ten seconds before resuming his talk, but he was still crying. "As soon... As soon as I s-saw...you, Luigi, st-standing...by y-yourself with...Jim, I felt...s-sad that you...w-were alone... So, I had...t-to choose...one o-of two d-decisions... Either...ap-apologize...or forget i-it... And I ch-chose to l-lie to...myself..."

"It is...t-true...that lying...to m-myself...is a b-bad choice... But... But that's w-what I ch-chose to do..." At this point, Mario's face was totally drenched in his tears. "And...w-when w-we blew the c-castle up...I told...y-you to s-see if the ch-charges were broken...and that...w-was a s-stupid decision... But w-what hit m-me r-real hard..." Mario instantly stopped because he knew he was about to talk about being insulted and started crying harder.

"W-what h-hit...me...s-so hard...was th-that...you w-wanted...a d-different br-brother...than m-me...!" Luigi and Jim looked at Mario with sympathetic expressions on their faces. "Th-that...destroyed... You d-don't...understand h-how...h-heartbr-broken...I f-felt...! I-I w-wanted...to g-give up...on s-saving Princess P-Peach..."

"What did he say?" Jim whispered to Luigi.

"He didn't want to save Princess Peach because he was so sad," Luigi replied.

"Oh gosh..." Jim murmured.

"I-I w-was g-gonna...walk b-back h-home...until Y-Yoshi told...m-me t-to keep...going... I h-had t-to lie to...myself e-even...more... I knew...Princess P-Peach was...c-counting on m-my help...so I...h-had no choice... I... I tried t-to...hold it all b-back...w-which was h-hard... I w-wanted to...e-explode s-so...badly... But I...knew B-Bowser w-would see...that a-as a w-weakness... So, I...acted l-like...n-nothing h-happened..." Mario cried.

"You...didn't know w-what...I w-was going through... D-deep down i-inside...I w-was feeling...s-so sad...even though...I w-was b-brave on...the outside... And a-after Princess P-Peach was s-saved and she k-kissed me...I d-did blush...but i-it wasn't a-a s-sign of l-love... It... It m-made my...s-sadness..." Mario stopped speaking and dropped to his knees.

"I can't take it anymore!" Mario sobbed. "I can't hold it back! I'm done lying to myself!" Mario hunched over a little bit. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up right now...! This is making me physically sick...!"

For less than half a minute, it looked as if Mario WAS going to vomit all over the floor, but nothing happened even though he was still crying. Mario slowly looked up at Jim and Luigi.

"Look... W-what I'm...t-trying to...say i-is..."

"Oh, Mario... You're making me cry..." Jim trembled because he was tearing up during Mario's talk.

"I'm so, so, so, SO SORRY I TREATED YOU HORRIBLY, LUIGI!" Mario shouted while clasping his hands together. "PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I WANT ANOTHER CHANCE AT BEING A BIG BROTHER...! I DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITH THIS FOREVER...! I DON'T WANT THIS TO RUIN OUR VACATION...! PLEASE, LUIGI...! I W-WANT...A-ANOTHER CH-CHANCE...! PLE-EA-ASE! Ple-ea-a-ase...!" Mario collapsed on the floor, begging "Please!" over and over again. Luigi walked up to Mario and knelt next to him.

"Bro. It's okay," Luigi said in a soft voice.

"NO! NO, IT'S NOT OKAY!" Mario wept. "TH-THIS I-IS ALL M-MY F-FA-AU-ULT...!"

"Hey. Mario. Look at me," Luigi coaxed Mario, who looked up at Luigi. "This isn't all your fault."

"It... It isn't...?" Mario sniffled.

"No. Absolutely not. I mean, you did make those mistakes, but I'm just as guilty as you are. Believe me." Mario got back up on his knees. "When I started running away after I yelled that I wanted a different brother, I wanted to turn back and apologize, but I just kept running until I stopped at a riverbank," Luigi explained. "Luckily, Jim was there to talk things over with me, but I still felt sorry for you even though I wasn't that upset."

"Does that mean you...forgive me...?" Mario asked.

"Yes, I do," Luigi replied. "As long as you also forgive me, we're cool with each other."

"Okay... I guess I forgive you too, bro..." Mario muttered.

"Come here," Luigi said as he went and hugged Mario. "You'll always be my big brother, Mario. I love you so much," Luigi whispered while Mario started crying again.

"I l-love y-you too, L-Luigi..." Mario whimpered. Jim walked up to Mario and Luigi; he was crying as well, but not as hard as Mario.

"This is...the saddest...thing I've ever...seen..." Jim said after Luigi let go of Mario. "Never in...my whole life...have I seen you cry...this hard, Mario..."

"It happens with all of us, buddy," Luigi said as he put his hand on Jim's shoulder. "But as Mario said on the flight to Dinosaur Land, we always make up in the end."

"Yeah... You're right..." Jim responded. It took about four minutes for Mario and Jim to calm down completely before they walked with Luigi to the elevator.


	28. 10A - A Celebratory Linner

_**Chapter 10**_

**10A - A Celebratory Linner**

It's now 1 sharp in the afternoon. Peach, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi had been waiting patiently on the deck of the SS _Koopa_ for Jim and the Mario Brothers to wrap their private conversation.

"Geez. What's taking them so long?" Yoshi asked Peach.

"Be patient, Yoshi. If it's that important, then that's why they won't be here for at least another minute," Peach responded. Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise sounded from the quarter deck. Red Yoshi immediately recognized where it was coming from.

"Oh! Here they come. That's the elevator," she announced. Within ten seconds, the elevator reached the top of the shaft before Red Yoshi pushed open the sliding door. Jim lifted the metal grate to allow him and the Mario Brothers to walk back onto the deck. By now, Mario's eyes were red and puffy from his excessive sobbing and crying.

"To make it short and simple, Mario apparently didn't treat Luigi right for the last two days and felt extremely horrible about what he did," Jim explained to Peach. "You should've seen the whole talk; he was crying so hard. Even more than ever."

"I'm sorry about that," Peach replied. "But he's okay now, right?"

"Yes, I am," Mario answered. For a few moments, it looked as if there was no way to go south across the bay to Yoshi's Island; especially since Peach didn't want to ruin her dress.

"I'll go see if there are any lifeboats on the ship," Luigi said.

"What's a 'lifeboat'?" Jim asked.

"It's basically a small boat that people use to row away from a giant ship if it starts to sink," Luigi replied. He looked down the sides of the ship since he remembered that any lifeboat would be connected at that exact spot.

He eventually found three lifeboats in the form of kayaks on either side of the bow. He untied the ropes that suspended from the deck. At the same time Luigi jumped down to the rocky surface the ship stood on, the rest of the group walked to the bow.

"I think each of these lifeboats can hold three of us," Luigi called from below. He let one of the lifeboats sail to the east on its own since only two were needed. Mario and Jim sat on Yoshi's back while Peach sat on Red Yoshi's back before they also jumped off the ship.

"Who's going on which boat?" Yoshi asked. Again, Jim came up with a suitable idea.

"Mario and Luigi, you go with Princess Peach. You Yoshis are rowing with me."

Without hesitation, everyone took their places in each of the boats; since Mario and Red Yoshi sat in the middles, they took their respective double-bladed paddles to start rowing away from the SS _Koopa_. Jim and Luigi sat in the fronts while Yoshi and Peach sat in the backs.

During the 1 hour and 50-minute trip back to Yoshi's Island, each group half had their own conversations. This meant that, for example, Jim and Yoshis were unaware of what the Mario Brothers and Peach were discussing.

"Are they talking about their private businesses again?" Jim asked Red Yoshi.

"Most likely," she answered. "Maybe they're planning on throwing a surprise party after they get back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Not that Princess Peach knows about it, though."

"I got to say that was the most epic adventure I've been on," Yoshi remarked. "Well, besides the sad moments we went through."

"Do you plan on flying home with Mario and Luigi?" Red Yoshi asked Jim.

"Number one: I think so. But number two: After we get to Mario and Luigi's castle, I have to find some way to get back to my home in Austin, Texas," Jim said.

"Well, good luck with that," Red Yoshi replied.

By the time everyone arrived at Yoshi's Island, it was 2:55 PM. All 25 Yoshis that were saved from Wendy's Castle gave the group a hero's welcome; specifically Peach herself. In addition, Red Yoshi reunited with her mom and dad, who haven't seen her for so long. Even Yellow Yoshi was there to greet the group.

"Thanks for saving all our friends, guys," he said. "It means a lot to us."

"I'm glad it does," Mario replied.

"You want to know our secret, Yellow Yoshi?" Jim asked.

"What is it?" Yellow Yoshi asked.

"It has to do with teamwork. If we went by ourselves on different paths, we'd be afraid all the time. So, the moral of the story is when we work together, there's nothing to fear."

"Hey! I was about to say that!" Luigi complained. Everyone laughed for several seconds.

"Sorry I s-stole your line, L-Luigi," Jim chortled.

Yellow Yoshi proceeded to lead the group towards a long table with six place settings. "We've got a huge linner for you guys coming soon. That's our official thank-you," he explained.

"Just for the six of us?" Mario asked.

"Exactly. Sorry we can't eat with you; this is more of a special feast than a buffet for all the Yoshis." Yellow Yoshi walked inside the kitchen house, which is where the food was being prepared.

At the table, Yoshi and Peach sat on either end while Mario and Jim sat on the first long side and Luigi and Red Yoshi sat on the other long side.

"I hope we're eating honey ham because Christmas is next month," Jim stated.

"Wow. Thanks for reminding us," Mario said. "I totally forgot about the holidays."

Obviously, the first thing served were the drinks: six glasses of ice water. Next, the appetizers came in with choices of either beefsteak tomato mozzarella salad or deviled eggs.

"I don't prefer mustard, but at least I like tomatoes," Jim said as he served himself the tomato salad.

"I can't eat the deviled eggs because I'm a vegetarian," Peach added in. "That includes any meat they serve us."

"You told Yellow Yoshi, right?" Red Yoshi asked.

"Yes, I did." After ten minutes of savoring the appetizers, the main course came in. It turns out that Jim was right; a giant half of honey ham was served alongside spiced stuffing and glazed carrots. For Peach herself, she was given a medium-sized bowl of minestrone soup.

Before everyone took their share of the main course, they bowed their heads to say grace.

"Dear God," Peach started. "We thank you so much for helping guide Mario, Luigi, Jim, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi across Dinosaur Land to restore peace and faith to the country. It's also a blessing that all the Yoshis and I are safe and secure for once in our lives. And lastly, we are grateful for the food you've given from above. On behalf of everyone on Dinosaur Land, amen."

"That was well done, Princess Peach," Mario complimented Peach. "I couldn't have done better myself."

"If you don't mind, guys, I'd like to have the honors of slicing the ham," Yoshi requested.

"Have at it, Yoshi. You might as well be the leader of all the Yoshis here," Red Yoshi responded. Yoshi went ahead and carved six ham slices as a starter for the group.

"Careful not to cut yourself," Jim warned Yoshi.

"Don't worry about it," Yoshi replied. "I've carved these hams for as long as I can remember."

After taste-testing the honey ham, Jim commented, "This ham is actually better than the kind Mom and Dad make for my family's Christmas dinners. I mean, they're both good, but this one is a little juicier."

"I can't agree less, buddy," Luigi agreed. "Princess Peach, may I have the carrots, please?"

"Sure," Peach said while passing the carrots to Luigi.

After another 17 minutes, everyone was done with the main course and awaited dessert.

"I wouldn't make any guesses, guys," Yoshi told the group. "We should let the chefs surprise us."

Shortly thereafter, the dessert was served: two choices of guava pudding or pineapple upside-down cake. Jim immediately went for the cake because he claimed that the first time he tried guava, it was too bitter even if he topped it with sweeteners.

"They didn't have any ice cream with the desserts?" Jim asked.

"Not this time," Yoshi replied. "They change up the menu every now and then."

Yellow Yoshi approached the group and asked, "How's the linner, guys?"

"That was tastier than I thought," Peach answered. "I wish I would've tried the ham, but I committed to the vegetarian foods."

"How long ago?" Yellow Yoshi questioned.

"Since I became a teenager."

"Thanks for the food," Mario added in.

"You're so welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed all of it," Yellow Yoshi said before walking away.


	29. 10B - Perfect End to a Perfect Adventure

**10B - Perfect End to a Perfect Adventure**

It's 3:35 PM; Jim, the Mario Brothers, Peach, Yoshi, and Red Yoshi had just finished their celebratory linner.

"You know, now that I think about it, I have to agree with Red Yoshi that time flew by quickly," Jim said. "It felt like we just landed at Dinosaur Land a couple hours ago."

"I know. It's pretty weird," Luigi replied.

"Uh, guys?" Red Yoshi butted in. "Sorry to interrupt, but Mommy and Daddy need me back at their house to clean up everything. They found it pretty messy after those Koopas took them away."

"Does that mean you're leaving us?" Peach asked.

"Yup. I hate to say goodbye, but it was a pleasure to adventure with you," Red Yoshi said.

"All right-y. We'll see you soon," Mario beamed.

"Bye," Red Yoshi bid the group farewell.

"See ya, Red Yoshi," Luigi, Jim, and Peach responded as Red Yoshi made her way to her parents' house.

"You are aware that I'm not leaving Red Yoshi, right?" Yoshi asked Jim while the group walked west away from the village.

"What do you mean?" Jim responded.

"I'll have to go back to my house soon," Yoshi replied.

"What about that tour we were gonna give Mario and Luigi?" Peach questioned.

"Well, we saw pretty much all of Dinosaur Land," Mario said.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I actually don't know. We must have missed a few spots."

Yoshi thought it over for a couple seconds before remembering one of the missing spots. "Oh! I remember now. I haven't shown you Kappa Mountain yet. It's this really tall mountain with a lake in the middle."

"How tall is it?" Luigi asked.

"I don't know the actual height. No one told me," Yoshi replied.

"I'd love to climb that mountain with you," Jim stated.

"Well..." Mario started to answer, but he started to mull it over.

"What is it, Mario?" Jim asked.

"Um... This is kind of our own thing," Mario answered.

"'Your own thing'?" Jim questioned. "I don't understand it."

"Remember when Princess Peach sent us that postcard two days ago?" Mario reminded Jim.

"Yeah..." Jim responded.

"She wrote it specifically for me and Luigi."

Jim remembered immediately when Mario explained about the postcard. "Oh, I get it. I just got to your castle before the mailman came."

"Exactly," Luigi added in. For a moment, Jim dug into his brain to try and answer any questions he came up with.

"Do I really have to find my way home by myself...?" Jim asked himself. He looked back up at Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi.

"So, that's it for me?" Jim questioned in a confused tone of voice.

"It appears so," Yoshi answered.

"Okay... It's your vacation after all," Jim said.

"You sound a bit concerned, buddy," Mario pointed out.

"No. I'm fine," Jim lied. In reality, he went back into his mind and wondered whether he would actually see Mario and Luigi again. He couldn't decide if it was a "yes" or a "no".

"Okey-dokey. I got to thank you for going with us to save Princess Peach," Mario thanked Jim. "It would've been really hard if it weren't for your courage and knowledge."

"Don't forget how you helped me through my troubles," Luigi reminded Jim. "It felt like I had a second brother during our private talks."

"Yeah. I remember all that," Jim acknowledged the Mario Brothers. "Well, I guess I'm gonna try to get home now."

"We wish you the best of luck," Mario told Jim.

"Thanks... Bye, guys..." Jim bid the Mario Brothers, Yoshi, and Peach goodbye.

"Goodbye, Jim," the group replied. Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach speed-walked up ahead as they were looking forward to exploring Kappa Mountain. Mario fell behind because he wanted to savor the beautiful environment around him.

Suddenly, Jim realized something bad. He knew that he wouldn't see Mario or Luigi ever again once he came back to his house.

Jim yelled in a slightly choked-up voice, "MARIO! WAIT!" Mario immediately turned around.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Before Mario knew it, Jim ran up to Mario and hugged him; Jim was already crying because he didn't want Mario to leave.

"Oh, Jim... Don't cry..." Mario said softly as he hugged Jim back.

"P-please don't...g-go...Ma-ario...!" Jim sobbed.

"It's okay, buddy..." After he let go of Jim, Mario knelt next to him and put his arm around him.

"Y-you... You c-can't l-leave...m-me...!" Jim cried.

"I know, Jim. I know you don't like goodbyes," Mario said.

"B-but I...w-won't s-see you...anym-more...! We...j-just m-met...!" Jim buried his face in his hands.

"Buddy. Listen to me. Please," Mario said. But Jim couldn't get himself to look at Mario; some of his tears fell through his fingers. "Just because I say goodbye, it doesn't mean you won't see me again."

"W-what...d-does it...mean...?" Jim stammered.

"There's always a way to come back to the Mushroom Kingdom. This isn't a one-time only trip."

"H-how do...you kn-know...?" Jim wept. He finally looked up at Mario, who wiped the tears off Jim's face.

"I think that the telephone game you have can take you here and back as many times as you want," Mario explained.

"Okay..." Jim replied.

"Me and Luigi are gonna stay in Dinosaur Land for one week before we get back home. So, if it makes you feel any better, you can visit us at any time after our vacation. We'll be more than glad to welcome you with open arms," Mario reassured Jim.

"Thank you..." Jim responded. By now, he had calmed down a tad bit even though he was still sad.

"I'm sorry you can't come with us this week," Mario said as Jim lowered his head. Having seen Jim look at the ground again, Mario slowly lifted his chin up.

"Buddy. There's nothing to be sad about. You've always been a happy little boy."

"But... But I'm not...happy..." Jim protested.

"I understand. I want us to leave on a good note because the last thing I'd want to see is for you to leave upset," Mario said.

"I know..." Jim responded.

"The truth is we all have to go after an adventure like this. But that doesn't mean it's the end," Mario explained.

"You're right... Adventures never end..." Jim replied.

"I know something that'll make you happy."

"What is it...?"

"Of all the fans in the whole world including yours, you are me and Luigi's number-one fan. And I mean the most important fan of all. As long as we're together as friends, you'll always be number-one forever," Mario said.

Jim got emotional again, but instead of him crying tears of joy that Mario was expecting, Jim was still sad that he has to leave Mario. He went and hugged Mario again.

"I... I'll...m-miss y-you...Ma-ario..." Jim cried.

"I'll miss you too, buddy..." Mario whispered as he hugged Jim tighter than the time when they first met. After seven seconds, Jim stopped hugging Mario; he has calmed down a little more.

"Oh gosh..." Jim murmured while taking a deep breath.

"Are you all right-y?" Mario asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for cheering me up," Jim replied.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're feeling better," Mario said as he stood back up. "Just remember I'll always be your best friend. I won't be someone who hangs out with a new friend and leaves for good after a few days."

"You promise?" Jim questioned.

"I never break any promises I make, buddy," Mario answered. "Well, I gotta go now. I don't want them worrying about me getting lost. You tell your brother Kent I said hello."

"Okay. Thanks again for being my friend," Jim thanked Mario, who patted his shoulder.

"Any time, Jim. I'll always be there for you." Both started to walk away from each other. "Buh-bye, buddy," Mario said while waving goodbye with his fingers.

"Bye, Mario," Jim replied as he waved goodbye too. Within seconds, Mario ran off to catch up with Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi. "Whew. That felt pretty good."

"The question now is: how do I get back home?" Jim started to wander around the plains in random directions. He immediately became concerned about being stuck in the Mushroom Universe.

"Oh no. I should've known this wasn't gonna be easy," Jim uttered. He decided to head to the Yoshis' village to ask for some help. While walking down the center of the grassy road, he noticed a Terebikko console out the corner of his left eye; for some reason, it appeared out of nowhere next to the bayshore.

Jim turned to the Terebikko and asked, "How did that get here?" He approached the Terebikko and kneeled next to it. "This looks just like my Terebikko."

He instantly remembered the letter that Shinzō Takada sent to him last Friday; it had the instructions on how to get to the Mushroom Universe.

"If I do this right, I should be able to reappear in the media room," Jim said. He picked up the Terebikko's phone, placed it on his right ear, and pressed the red 1 button. But nothing happened; Jim didn't disappear immediately. He pushed the button two more times to no avail.

"Why is it not working?" Jim questioned. He looked at the other three buttons: the green 2 button, the blue 3 button, and the yellow 4 button. "Maybe one of these other buttons will do the trick. I'll try the green one first."

Without hesitation, while keeping the phone on his right ear, Jim pushed the green 2 button. Suddenly, he disappeared in a split-second white flash and the phone dropped to the ground; Jim was on his way back home.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mario managed to catch up with Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi. He was already out of breath from running so hard.

"There you are, bro!" Luigi exclaimed. "Where were you all this time?"

"Sorry, Luigi. Jim didn't want me to go, so I stayed with him for a couple minutes," Mario explained. "He obviously doesn't like goodbyes and that's why he was crying before I left at first."

Luigi immediately felt sorry for Jim and said out of sympathy, "Why didn't you tell me, Mario? I could've stayed with Jim to say goodbye too."

"I understand, but Jim called for me only," Mario answered. "It would've been nice if you walked with me to look at the nature and all that; maybe he would've noticed you leaving too."

"Yeah. That makes sense," Luigi remarked. "Did you hear that, Princess Peach?"

"I heard everything," Peach answered. "I can't help but feel sorry for the poor kid. I hate to see him unhappy."

"But we're gonna have a fun time this week," Yoshi added in. "I know it's disappointing that Jim left us, but I would rather not let it ruin your vacation."

"You're right," Mario replied. The group proceeded to the base of Kappa Mountain and began to climb it.

* * *

It's now 3:45 PM in Austin, Texas. Jim reappears in a kneeling position right next to the family's swimming pool in the backyard. He looks around confusingly.

"How did I end up next to the pool?" Jim asked himself before looking at his reflection in the water. "Maybe it sent me here because I was looking at the bay."

He then looked back up at the yard and smiled with satisfaction. "At least I'm back home now."

All of a sudden, Jim heard the back door open. He turned and saw his brother Kent walk towards the pool.

"Hi, Jim. Welcome home," Kent greeted Jim.

"What's up, Kent?" Jim said.

"Not much. I was thinking about you this weekend," Kent replied. "How did you appear next to the pool?"

"That's what I want to know," Jim answered. "I thought it was because I was looking at a lake or something."

"I see," Kent said as Jim stood back up. "Well, why don't you tell me how it went in the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"You know I'm gonna tell you everything," Jim remarked. "By the way, Mario told me to tell you he said hi."

"That's nice," Kent said as both walked into the house.

"Wait until you hear about this adventure. Your mind's gonna be blown afterwards," Jim declared.


	30. 10C - Where Are They Now?

**10C - Where Are They Now?**

It's December 2, 1990 in Austin, Texas; the time is 6:05 PM. The Heeding family is having dinner at the downtown Tony Roma's restaurant.

"How's the book coming along, Jim?" Jim's dad Randy asked.

"I'm still working on it. I'm on the part where we met Yoshi," Jim replied. For the last few days, Jim had been writing a book about his adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom the previous weekend: a first attempt at being a young author.

"Have you come up with a name for the book?" Jim's mom Helen asked.

"Not yet. That's the hardest part and I'll come up with one after I finish the last chapter," Jim answered as he poured some barbecue sauce on his baby back ribs.

"I'm kind of worried that my friends won't believe me," Jim said with concern. "They're gonna think I'm playing pretend and lying that video game characters are real."

"But we know you're not lying," Helen reassured Jim. "You've seen it yourself."

"If only I had a camera and took pictures of Dinosaur Land," Jim sighed. "I can't believe I forgot to pack one before I left."

"It's okay. You'll remember to bring one next time you go there," Kent reminded Jim.

"Speaking of Dinosaur Land, Mario told me before I went home that he and Luigi are staying there for a week, so they should be back by now," Jim explained.

"Remember that you have school on Monday through Friday, so you can go visit them on Saturday or Sunday," Randy told Jim.

"Thanks," Jim replied as he took a bite of his mashed potatoes. "I wonder what Bowser is doing now. I mean, last time I saw him, he flew up into the sky," Jim said to himself. "Maybe he's thinking about how to kidnap Princess Peach again."

* * *

Meanwhile, Bowser and the Koopalings (Iggy, Lemmy, Morton, Roy, Larry, Wendy, and Ludwig) gathered in the meeting room of Bowser's Asian-styled castle located within his oriental kingdom.

"Okay, Koopalings. We know that Mario, Luigi, and that little boy took all of us down last week, which is a disappointment," Bowser announced. "We were SO close to making Dinosaur Land our own kingdom. For some reason, I think living in this kingdom is not as relaxing as I thought it was going to be."

"So, what do we do now?" Wendy asked.

"You and the others just sit tight. I'm gonna come up a bunch of different plans to steal Princess Peach without those Mario Bros. knowing," Bowser said.

"Can you tell us one of your ideas if you thought of one already?" Larry asked.

"Good question. I was thinking about building a dungeon underneath Princess Peach's castle and lifting it into the sky, but I don't know how it's gonna work," Bowser replied.

"So, are you saying you're sleeping on it?" Roy questioned.

"For now, yes. It might come up again in a few years because I know there are other options."

"Vhy didn't you take your Koopa Clown Car vith you?" Ludwig asked.

"Because it's broken, you fool. I couldn't fit it in my airship, and even if it did fit, I wouldn't know where to buy a new propeller." Bowser gave a frustrated sigh. "I still can't believe that kid used a Super Mushroom. Seriously? Of all the people in the world, why him?"

"Probably because he wanted to be like Mario...?" Lemmy guessed.

"Number one: That's no excuse, Lemmy. And number two: I was asking a rhetorical question, which means no answering it," Bowser responded. "Anyway, you all are dismissed." With the meeting over, the Koopalings leisurely scattered away.

"For now, I'll let it slide with Mario and Luigi taking back Princess Peach. But next time, my new plan's gonna have a 0% chance of failure! Gwahahaha!" Bowser exclaimed.

* * *

"Well, that was fun," Mario said to Luigi as both walked into their castle. They had just gotten home after an early-evening flight from Dinosaur Land back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Yeah. Even more fun than when Princess Peach got kidnapped again," Luigi agreed.

"But I thought that adventure was great," Mario returned.

"Technically, you're right, bro," Luigi responded. "Then again, it was Jim who made this adventure a cakewalk." Mario and Luigi entered the kitchen where they laid out a bunch of photos taken during the week-long extended vacation.

"I wish Jim was with us during that vacation," Mario said in a disappointed tone of voice. "It would've been a twenty out of ten if we took pictures with him."

"I understand, Mario. But you know he couldn't take the school week off just to stay in Dinosaur Land," Luigi replied. "Jim's teachers wouldn't believe him even he told them."

"Good point," Mario said. "School always comes first before free time."

"I'm gonna go get an album, bro," Luigi told Mario as he went upstairs to find an empty photo album. Mario glanced at the photos for a moment before reflecting on the emotional goodbye he and Jim went through. He started to feel a bit sad, but not to the point where he was crying.

"I know Jim's coming back to see me and Luigi soon, but I don't think I'll ever forget that day. It broke my heart seeing him upset," Mario said to himself before taking a deep breath. "Maybe I should think happy thoughts instead of constantly worrying about Jim." After another minute, Luigi came back to the kitchen with the empty album and a permanent marker.

"How about you organize the photos after I label them?" Luigi offered.

"Sure," Mario responded.

* * *

"I can't wait to be at my castle again, Toadsworth. I missed you during the last week," Peach said. Her steward, Lloyd Toadsworth, had just picked her up from the Mushroom International Airport. Both are now driving back to Peach's Castle.

"Well, what matters most is you're home, Princess," Toadsworth reassured Peach. "Where are those pictures you took with Master Mario?"

"He wanted to put them in an album after they got home, but he said he'll make a copy for me," Peach responded.

"Excellent. I want to see the pictures so badly." By the time Peach and Toadsworth arrived at the castle, it was 6:27 PM. After taking her suitcase out of the car, Peach approached the front door with Toadsworth, who proceeded to unlock the door using a key hidden under the doormat.

"After you, Princess," Toadsworth stated after opening the door.

"No. You go ahead," Peach requested.

"All right. If you insist." The foyer was dark except for a few candles lit up inside the chandelier. Toadsworth turned the foyer lights on immediately after Peach walked in. There was no one waiting for her.

"Where's Toad at?" Peach asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he's in Toad Town with his friends. If I remember correctly, he likes to hang out at Club 64 every Sunday evening," Toadsworth answered.

"And when will he be back?" Peach questioned.

"Maybe around 11:30, but it depends every week." Peach started to take her suitcase up the stairs to her bedroom on the second floor. "Do you want anything to eat, Princess?" Toadsworth offered.

"Not now. Maybe in an hour or so," Peach replied. After entering her room, Peach set her suitcase next to the bed and opened it to start unpacking. "I hate unpacking just as much as packing up before a trip," Peach muttered as she set her crown on her dresser.

* * *

Back at the Yoshis' village, Yoshi and Red Yoshi were playing tetherball near the volleyball court on the north end of the village.

"I forgot how many times you've beaten me," Yoshi said.

"Don't ask. I'm the queen of tetherball," Red Yoshi boasted before starting the next round. It took about four seconds before Red Yoshi got the ball to wrap around the post again. "See? You haven't practicing lately," she stated.

"What about when we ran around the country last week?" Yoshi questioned. "We had to hurry to save Princess Peach anyway."

"That has nothing to do this," Red Yoshi answered. "Yes, you got some exercise in, but did you think it improved your reflexes?"

"Kind of. Are there other sports that'll help me with the reflexes besides tetherball?" Yoshi asked.

"I'll ask some of the Yoshis to do a volleyball match with us tomorrow afternoon. That's if you'll agree to do a few one-on-ones with me beforehand," Red Yoshi replied.

"Give me tonight to think it over, Red Yoshi," Yoshi requested.

"Fine. You have until 9 AM tomorrow to come up with a strategy or two," Red Yoshi instructed Yoshi. "I would go for a few more rounds, but it's getting late."

"Yeah. I haven't had dinner yet," Yoshi agreed.

"What are your parents making?" Red Yoshi asked as she and Yoshi began to walk back to their houses.

"I don't know. Maybe chicken noodle soup?" Yoshi guessed.

"That's good."

"You want to come over tonight?"

"Not really," Red Yoshi replied. "I mean, I'd love to, but I know Mommy and Daddy always make stuffed bell peppers every Sunday."

"You're just saying that because you love to stay at home all night," Yoshi said.

"Come on. You know that's not true," Red Yoshi responded.

"You're right again," Yoshi sighed. "Well, good night, Red Yoshi."

"See you in the morning," Red Yoshi said before both parted ways for the rest of the night.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**And that's a wrap for this adventurous adaptation of the Japanese anime _Mario to Yoshi no Bōken Land_. I hope all of you enjoyed the story. Note that Chapter 10B is considered the finale of the story while Chapter 10C serves as the epilogue. Anyway, please stay tuned for more adaptations and/or original stories in the coming days. This is ****nintendoscript15**** signing out.**


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